[Fis] Sustainable use of resources

Dear Loet
 
The "concrete wall" is by all means a metaphor. What is implied is that realization of an upcoming environmental catastrophe was sudden, and it occured just 30 years ago, although the catastrophe itself is determined by factors built into European cultures ages before that.
 
Let me suggest that when civilization turned from agriculture to industry, it abandoned its ecological 'niche' [which it expanded beyond natural limits of a biological species during the previous turn: from hunting to agriculture]. Since late 17 century, mining and refining have become increasingly important activities, and rate of utilization for non-renewable increased ever since. Francis Bacon was one of the first to express this shift (as corresponding shift in ideology occured): humanity must dominate nature. This idea is, in terms of your posting, one of the eigenvalues of contemporary civilization, enforced by a comparative efficiency of European civilization compared to other, non-industrialized, countries (remember that 19th century Europeans considered other civilizations, even as ancient as Indian and Chinese, non-civilized or barbarian, for which the best it would be to accept values and knowledge of Europe).
 
Industrialization was an inevitable result of capitalism, an offspring of medival European culture and values. And environmental threats, especially 'limits to growth' issue, are inevitable for a society where industry is growing. As I recall from corresponding caluclations, existing utilization of resources poses at risk not only non-renewable energy sources, but also dozens of other minerals, some of them to last no more than 50 years. No "post-industrial revolution" can resolve the crisis, because natural consumption of resources is not reduced, and it is supported by demand of "golden billion" to increase their quality of life [or, values inside the contemporary civilization, intrinsically European values].
 
A growing understanding of these threats inside a society, or introduction of new "meanings", is the only way to change "values", or dominating (and most valued) types of behavior inside a society. Governments can support this process (organized shift), but it will be unstable until it becomes mass-like: thus, environmental care should become a key social value - which is not as easy as it may sound, because it fundamentally contradicts some existing values, such as value of consumption [expressed by neoclassical economists as "maximization of consumer utility function"]. Whether this may happen, and contradiction may be resolved, is not clear. To achieve self-organized criticality, a system must first run into critical condition, and the crisis is not there yet, it is only predicted (and therefore I can join Pedro's scepticism that values can be shaken).
 
Pavel
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Loet Leydesdorff [mailto:loet@leydesdorff.net]
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 15:05
To: ����� ����� ��������; fis@listas.unizar.es
Subject: RE: [Fis] Sustainable use of resources

Dear Pavel,
 
I agree that information can only have a "value" or a "meaning" with reference to a structure. Using the model of autopoiesis the information is produced within one or more communication systems. These systems contain structure (redundancy) since otherwise they would be "dead". One expect the "value" to be shaped in the longer run with reference to the eigenvectors of the network. (Thus, values can be different in different systems.) The eigenvectors can function as the axes of codification insofar as they are stabilized over time.
 
"Meaning" adds a reflexive element to the dynamic. While "value" can historically be stabilized, "meaning" globalizes from a hindsight perspective because we are also able to abandon previous values. The communication of meaning adds another layer to the system (as you note).
 
I am less clear about what you mean with a concrete wall. I assume that this is a metaphor. In fully developed evolutionary systems it tends to be always "five for twelve". This can also be considered as self-organized criticality (on the edge of chaos).
 
With kind regards,
 
 
Loet
Received on Tue Nov 25 17:25:41 2003