3 ms·

Using per-capita numbers for the first industrialized nation is highly disingenuous. There are limits to efficiency, and billions that aspire to the lifestyle

Using per-capita numbers for the first industrialized nation is highly disingenuous. There are limits to efficiency, and billions that aspire to the lifestyle of the average Brit.

graemep 3y ago
What are the limits to technological progress? In the past we have replaced resources that we might run short of with other resources. We have almost entirely replaced wood as a source of energy, and many countries have almost replaced coal.
- makomk 3y ago
  It's basically impossible for the developing world to copy the route to replacing coal usage that the developed world has taken though, because that relies heavily on natural gas and there simply isn't enough of it being produced, and of course the wealthier developed world gets first dibs. This has likely been made worse by environmental activists campaigning against new gas production. Countries like Pakistan have had to switch away from gas and launch emergency coal power building programs because they simply cannot keep the lights on otherwise.
  - graemep 3y ago
    Coal was not just replaced only by natural gas in developed countries though - it was replaced by multiple other sources. We have constantly replaced materials with others, and availability is a factor. Stone and wood in construction are less used because we have cement, concrete, bricks etc. We replaced copper and bronze with iron and steel. These go back many millennia. We have replaced natural materials with synthetic to deal with shortages (e.g. silk with nylon). I get the problems with electricity generation, but as a general rule exponential economic growth does not require an exponential increase in the consumption of any particular resource.
  - Matticus_Rex 3y ago
    No one needs to copy routes through technological progress, though. You do need a build-up of capital (without outside investment), but the history of technological progress is full of less-developed groups jumping ahead because of the strides taken by more-developed groups.
- taylodl 3y ago
  > What are the limits to technological progress? The laws of physics.

Using per-capita numbers for the first industrialized nation is highly disingenuous. There are limits to efficiency, and billions that aspire to the lifestyle of the average Brit.

graemep 3y ago

What are the limits to technological progress? In the past we have replaced resources that we might run short of with other resources. We have almost entirely replaced wood as a source of energy, and many countries have almost replaced coal.

makomk 3y ago
It's basically impossible for the developing world to copy the route to replacing coal usage that the developed world has taken though, because that relies heavily on natural gas and there simply isn't enough of it being produced, and of course the wealthier developed world gets first dibs. This has likely been made worse by environmental activists campaigning against new gas production. Countries like Pakistan have had to switch away from gas and launch emergency coal power building programs because they simply cannot keep the lights on otherwise.
- graemep 3y ago
  Coal was not just replaced only by natural gas in developed countries though - it was replaced by multiple other sources. We have constantly replaced materials with others, and availability is a factor. Stone and wood in construction are less used because we have cement, concrete, bricks etc. We replaced copper and bronze with iron and steel. These go back many millennia. We have replaced natural materials with synthetic to deal with shortages (e.g. silk with nylon). I get the problems with electricity generation, but as a general rule exponential economic growth does not require an exponential increase in the consumption of any particular resource.
- Matticus_Rex 3y ago
  No one needs to copy routes through technological progress, though. You do need a build-up of capital (without outside investment), but the history of technological progress is full of less-developed groups jumping ahead because of the strides taken by more-developed groups.
taylodl 3y ago
> What are the limits to technological progress? The laws of physics.