On November 18, Andrew McAfee discussed the premise of his new book, More From Less, at the monthly seminar of the Long Now Foundation in San Francisco. The book argues that dematerialization is occurring because of the combination of capitalism and tech progress (especially progress with digital technologies). Contested markets provide the motive, and tech progress the opportunity, to save money by swapping bits for atoms throughout the economy.
But competition and computers don’t automatically deal with pollution or protect threatened ecosystems. Two other forces are necessary–public awareness and responsive government. When all four are present, societies can tread more lightly on the Earth and grow in confidence that both humanity and nature can thrive together into the future.
Watch the talk here.
The Long Now Foundation was established in 1996 to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. The Foundation says it “hopes to provide a counterpoint to today’s accelerating culture and help make long-term thinking more common.”