Dunno if you’ve seen Feed or Feedback: Agriculture, Population Dynamics and the State of the Planet by A. Duncan Brown (University of Wollongong) — cf. [1] for my synopsis … I think you may agree with a lot of his conclusions!
MarkZimmermann. 2008-11-26 00:25 UTC.
Hmm! No; however, this book review in Human Ecology (2007) is very positive on it. It sounds like a moderately depressing, if important, book. I’ll try to scour the libraries for it, next time I’m about the City.
I’m a fan of any work arguing from a positive feedback foundation. And, while I do agree with this fundamental premise that the Earth cannot support human life in its current instantiation, I do not agree that the Earth cannot support human life in any other instantiation.
Civilization is, probably, unsustainable. See Jason Godesky‘s The Thirty Theses.
But humanity, in general, is quite capable of sustainability! That 6.5 billion humans, today, choose not to be is no proof that humans cannot be. Particularly, as 300 million humans, today, do choose to be. The continued resilience, for example, of the Hopi (dryland horticulturists) and !Kung (dryland hunter-gatherers) in the face of 10,000 to 20,000 years of cultural, ecological, and political adversity makes a startling argument for the long-term survivability of Homo sapiens.
That said — sweet find on the book; and I’ll try to give ‘er a read!
Have a chill, downtempo week. And take care, Mark.
Humbly,
leycec. 2008-11-27 03:06 UTC.