Hi Erik,
I have been enjoying reading your posts for quite some time. Well “enjoying” may not be the right word given all the gloom ;-)) Let’s say that I think we share a lot in common.
I particularly resonated with your post of 25 January 2022 about "energy addiction". I have a very similar experience about so many people misunderstanding scientific matters or simply not being aware of them . We both stress the need to shift from symptoms to focusing on the underlying problems concerning overshoot and all.
Globally, recent surveys show that 84% of people between 16 and 25 in the older industrialised countries are worried by climate change, 75% consider their future as frightening, 56% that humankind is doomed. 65% consider that governments are failing young people. In the USA, 59% of people are now either concerned or alarmed about the Climate Emergency, an inversion of the situation observed in 2008.
In that vein, more and more people contact me feeling increasingly desperate because they see no real action and, of late, realising that decarbonising with renewables just can’t cut it, they wonder if maybe we have reached a dead end. This is where what you point out in your post is crucial, concerning "technology" and a necessary de-growth by whatever name. If we mean “technology” in the common sense, referring to cars, smart phones, “apps”, etc. I would probably share your views. None of it is sustainable.
However, there are other ways of looking at this that enable opening up ways out of humankind’s present dire predicament and that precisely steer away from “technology” as you present it.
Please bear with me for a second or two… In the context of the present slide into civilisation collapse I think it pays to consider what one may mean by “technology” critically. Inherently, cars, mobile phones, Internet apps, etc., are not “technology”. They are machines, appliances, or software. They are outcomes of developing technology.
Technology is what the Greek words it is made of say it is: a critical analysis expressed in words (logos) of the state of the art (techné) concerning problems we encounter and seek to solve. This critical analysis is aimed at finding better ways of doing things, and how to translate this into better products, services, business and financial models, decision-making processes, and related social and financial relationships.
Considering how to address overshoot and collapse requires differentiating:
* Technological systems, encompassing chains of processes extending from mine to grave, using wide ranges of technology-based equipment and energy forms;
* Technology Classes, each encompassing a range of technologies all based on the same fundamental principles, for example, unit operations in chemical and process engineering, the class of internal combustion engines, ICE, the class of turbines (steam, gas, wind turbines), the class of photovoltaics, the classes of batteries, etc.;
* Technologies, defining ways of achieving specific outcomes, from specific standpoints and courses of action; and
* Means: products, services, business and financial models, decision-making processes, as well as related social and financial relationships. That is, as we have noted earlier, cars, iPhones, or washing machines are not “technology” but mere products and machines.
The present focus on means to address matters like global warming without understanding the problems causing it, and without understanding technology, technology classes and technological systems, leads to resounding failures. This is where I think we converge.
So, with the above in mind, this is to share with you how we bring people who are increasingly desperate, a life changing avenue by showing that there are simple, affordable, sustainable ways of getting out of the present quagmire that no one so far had seen, so that, instead of despairing and feeling powerless, they can focus on how they can get involved in changing the game, whatever their means and capabilities may be. I recently posted it on Medium. It’s all in lay language. It gets positive responses.
People can see that there is a game changer within reach that precisely addresses what you alert about so well - the urgent need to get out of all the tech nonsense. Although we talk in terms of the overall “market”, this is to use terms a broad audience may relate to. It is not about creating yet another set of “GAFAMs”. Instead our objectives are to ensure that everybody has access, can be involved and benefits from what is there in front of everybody’s noses but that most don’t see:
Please take a bit of quality time to have a read (it’s a long read). I would love to discuss this with you and explore how we could go further, out of growth and into something else, that is in tune with the whole of life.
Cheers,
Louis
