Contribution to Book
Complexity, problem solving, and sustainable societies
Getting Down to Earth: Practical Applications of Ecological Economics
(1996)
Abstract
Historical knowledge is essential to practical applications of ecological economics. Systems of problem solving develop greater complexity and higher costs over long periods. In time such systems either require increasing energy subsidies or they collapse. Diminishing returns to complexity in problem solving limited the abilities of earlier societies to respond sustainably to challenges, and will shape contemporary responses to global change. To confront this dilemma we must understand both the role of energy in sustaining problem solving, and our historical position in systems of increasing complexity.
Disciplines
Publication Date
1996
Publisher
Island Press
Citation Information
Joseph Tainter. "Complexity, problem solving, and sustainable societies" Getting Down to Earth: Practical Applications of Ecological Economics (1996) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/joseph_tainter/337/