Open letter to Yuval Noah Harari regarding his book ”Homo Deus” there he explores the projects, dream and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century – from overcoming death to creating artificial life. It asks the fundamental questions: Where do we protect this fragile world from our own destructive powers?
I have been reading in your book ”Homo Deus” and I found this line that I think is wrong.
”We have managed to bring famine, plague and war under control thanks largely to our phenomenal economi growth, which provides us with abundant food, medicine, energy and raw materials.”
It should be in this order instead:
”We have managed to bring famine, plague and war under control thanks largely to our phenomenal energy growth, which provides us with abundant food, medicine, and raw materials, and that gave us economic growth.”
If the line is like this it makes sense because surplus energy is the mother of all growth. It is cheap energy that creates economic growth and all things that comes with it.
Gail Tveberg has shown that the economy is a dissipative system, it is clear that energy must be central to its operation, you can find her work at ”Our Finite World”.
Dr Tim Morgan who writes about Surpuls Energy Economics have also shown that it is the economy is an energy equation, and that the amount of prosperity generated in the “real” economy of goods, services, labour and resources is determined by the quantity of surplus energy available.
George Mobus has also some interesting writing about ”Net energy and the economy” at ”Question Everything”
And Ugo Bardi has done a loot of work about raw materials in general that is of interest, he also have some insight about the Seneca effect that could have some impact on the future.
This is some of my thoughts about your line in the book.
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