There's lots of economic theory being put forward right now, under the umbrella of de-growth. I think we're all ready to kiss capitalism goodbye, unless you're really rich capitalist. This discourse is now coming into the mainstream. The Spanish minister for consumer affairs wrote an article in one of their national newspapers about de-growth just a few weeks ago. So the collapse of business as usual society would be fantastic.
George Mobus is Professor Emeritus at University of Washington, Tacoma. His broad academic background saw him conduct research on artificial intelligence, cybernetics and systems science.
George joins me to discuss how systems science is failing to grasp the polycrisis—that the field has been split into silos, leaving most systems scientists without the tools to model the complexity of the emergency we face.
He also explains the neurological limits of individual human wisdom, suggesting the agricultural revolution affected our capacity for abstract thinking, before revealing how humans can work past those limits—collectively.
Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it.
© Rachel Donald
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