Difference between revisions of "Talk:Post-scarcity"
(→Post-materialism) |
|||
| Line 21: | Line 21: | ||
==Post-materialism== | ==Post-materialism== | ||
Once it is known that there is almost no limit on goods for personal consumption - it might be like a child in a free sweet shop or workers in a chocolate factory who can eat as much as they want. After a few sessions of over-indulgence, there is no longer a rush to grab and consume as much as possible. Quality becomes more important that quantity. It then becomes part of the culture - materialism is a phase to be passed through in these early stages of our civilisation. There is only so much 'stuff' that a single person can interact with and use within their lifetime... | Once it is known that there is almost no limit on goods for personal consumption - it might be like a child in a free sweet shop or workers in a chocolate factory who can eat as much as they want. After a few sessions of over-indulgence, there is no longer a rush to grab and consume as much as possible. Quality becomes more important that quantity. It then becomes part of the culture - materialism is a phase to be passed through in these early stages of our civilisation. There is only so much 'stuff' that a single person can interact with and use within their lifetime... | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Scarcity of land == | ||
| + | The surface area of the planet is finite. If the population of the planet carries on increasing there will be less 'land-per-person', this much is simple. However the population is projected to peak at around 9.5 billion in 2050 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Forecast]. Also the 'carrying capacity' of the existing surface can be improved. Efficiency of production can be increased. Structures can be built vertically. Land can be reclaimed. Factories, agricultural space and cities can be built underground, floating on the sea or even on the seabed. Ultimately there is Space to expand into. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Controlling access to land where resources can be mined is an issue, but increasing the efficiency of recycling to the very high 90s% means that with a stabilising population less and less material will have to be dug out of the ground. It can be endlessly recycled which just requires energy. There will like be (some) owners of land and organisations such as co-operatives and trusts who will allow access to resources via land they own for the public good. Also much land in many countries is government owned and there is plenty of public land, so this can be used too. Another option is mining the seabed in international waters. Some of these things (and how open-source enabled post-scarcity can emerge from a primarily commercial and proprietary world ['transition period') are mentioned in my post [http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/browse_thread/thread/8a26b785a4c2929b/0353d7aea7bd9c62?#0353d7aea7bd9c62 here]. | ||
==John Gelles note== | ==John Gelles note== | ||
Revision as of 18:30, 3 January 2009
| This 'discussion page' is currently used to hold notes for the development of this website (however it can still be used for discussion) |
|---|
"To see how this kind of abundance is possible, it is important to understand the underlying concepts and potential of open-source and advanced automation – otherwise this is easily dismissed as naive dreaming. These concepts are not yet widely known or understood, partly because they have only recently become feasible."
Need section on population growth. See michael email
Interesting article on population growth: http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0502-rhett_butler.html
Point that once people get beyond materialism people are then in an optimal position to co-operate and collaborate for the right reasons.
Section on the economics of abundance.
Note about these developments not happening in a political and social vacuum - I'm just describing what is technologically possible at the moment.
The simplest analogy is that of a vast jungle providing fruit in abundance for anyone to eat – but in this scenario the jungle is highly autonomous distributed machinery that has been transparently and collaboratively designed.
post-materialism
Contents
End of commercial era?
Ultimately how will companies be able to compete with huge open-source networks? Can restricted groups of professionals outcompete the rest of the world (that also include so-called professionals) who are constantly evolving shared IP. When the tools have matured and working practices for thistype of collaboration have been highly optimised, it seems unlikely...
Post-materialism
Once it is known that there is almost no limit on goods for personal consumption - it might be like a child in a free sweet shop or workers in a chocolate factory who can eat as much as they want. After a few sessions of over-indulgence, there is no longer a rush to grab and consume as much as possible. Quality becomes more important that quantity. It then becomes part of the culture - materialism is a phase to be passed through in these early stages of our civilisation. There is only so much 'stuff' that a single person can interact with and use within their lifetime...
Scarcity of land
The surface area of the planet is finite. If the population of the planet carries on increasing there will be less 'land-per-person', this much is simple. However the population is projected to peak at around 9.5 billion in 2050 [1]. Also the 'carrying capacity' of the existing surface can be improved. Efficiency of production can be increased. Structures can be built vertically. Land can be reclaimed. Factories, agricultural space and cities can be built underground, floating on the sea or even on the seabed. Ultimately there is Space to expand into.
Controlling access to land where resources can be mined is an issue, but increasing the efficiency of recycling to the very high 90s% means that with a stabilising population less and less material will have to be dug out of the ground. It can be endlessly recycled which just requires energy. There will like be (some) owners of land and organisations such as co-operatives and trusts who will allow access to resources via land they own for the public good. Also much land in many countries is government owned and there is plenty of public land, so this can be used too. Another option is mining the seabed in international waters. Some of these things (and how open-source enabled post-scarcity can emerge from a primarily commercial and proprietary world ['transition period') are mentioned in my post here.
John Gelles note
The fundamental positive (a sufficiency of material, energy, intelligence, information) is matched by the fundamental negatives: the urge to populate until scarcity trumps abundance (Malthusian doctrine); and the urge develop complexity, variation, embellishment and clutter, until intelligence cannot cope -- that is to experience the triumph of form over substance or mandarinism).
Simple solutions are resisted by the force of habit: for example, we do not highly reward females who limit themselves to two children, nor do we sufficiently reward effective simplification (an art that to date has lost the war against counter-productive complexity, clutter and distraction.)
Existing economics is defined by scarcity. Existing law is defined by blessed complexity.
Money, the God-sent simplifier, is under the control of the Devil. Rescue it, and the path to an advanced civilization will be widened to vastly increase the speed of travel to its many locales.
http://wiki-debate.wikispaces.com/debating+the+money+question
-- Johngelles 22:29, 22 February 2007
Image
Make image of cornucopia with more relevant stuff pouring out:
- Medicine
- Drinking water
- Food
- Vehicles
- Machines
- Housing
- Consumer products
- etc
General
- The significance of everything as information
- Create pages for people like Fresco and Fuller
- The Improving State of the World
- Julian Simon
- The population paradox
