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> No civilization has ever voluntarily reduced resource consumption. The incentives and coordination issues make it impossible. Just to take one counter-examp
by chimprich 7y ago
> No civilization has ever voluntarily reduced resource consumption. The incentives and coordination issues make it impossible.
Just to take one counter-example, the UK has reduced CO2 consumption by 38% since 1990.
> A far more practical solution is to innovate our way out of the problem
Technological approaches are part of the solution, but it's far too risky to gamble the future of our civilisation on technical breakthroughs that may or may not occur. We're up against some tough physical limits and we certainly have no guarantee that we'll get any miracle breakthroughs in the next few decades.
Besides, with our current technology level we almost certainly have the ability to solve the problem now; we just lack the political will. How would a slight improvement in technology change that?
- chroma 7y ago> …the UK has reduced CO2 consumption by 38% since 1990. The UK is a country, not a civilization. They don’t have to solve the same coordination problem that the entire world has.
- chimprich 7y agoI must be missing something in your argument, because if countries can spontaneously reduce consumption without coordination, doesn't that solve the problem? You say "No civilization has ever voluntarily reduced resource consumption", but civilisation as a whole has not needed to before. This is the first time I can think of that we have faced a global existential threat - or at least one we can do something about.
- shitgoose 7y ago"the UK has reduced CO2 consumption" consumption or production? also, isn't CO2 increase offset by increase in forests (that consume CO2)? so reducing CO2 should lead to reduction in forests, right?