Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos

by M. Mitchell Waldrop

global sustainability is possible only if human society undergoes at least six fundamental transitions within a very few decades: 1. A demographic transition to a roughly stable world population. 2. A technological transition to a minimal environmental impact per person. 3. An economic transition to a world in which serious attempts are made to charge the real costs of goods and services—including environmental costs—so that there are incentives for the world economy to live off nature’s “income” rather than depleting its “capital.” 4. A social transition to a broader sharing of that income, along with increased opportunities for nondestructive employment for the poor families of the world. 5. An institutional transition to a set of supranational alliances that facilitate a global attack on global problems and allow various aspects of policy to be integrated with one another. 6. An informational transition to a world in which scientific research, education, and global monitoring allow large numbers of people to understand the nature of the challenges they face.