When I first encountered this idea some 4 decades ago I was perplexed as to what he meant. Now, after years of study into Earth history I interpret that statement in a very literal sense. The record of Earth change, encoded into the rocks, the landscapes about us and in the epic and universal mythology of our species conveys the same message, that inherent in the system is a reset button. The evidence now in hand confirms that this reboot command has been activated numerous times in the course of Earth history prior to any human intervention. The preeminent task of our time is, I believe, learning how to overwrite this command before the next system failure, and towards that end, we have a rich legacy of ancient knowledge and traditions that can facilitate our efforts, especially if deciphered in the light of the extraordinary discoveries of modern science. Ancient and modern systems of knowledge are perfect complements of one another.