Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet, 2021a

D.5 <strong>Human</strong>ity’s Long View 407
D.5.3 Time to Grow Up
In a sense, humanity is going through an awkward adolescent phase:
growth spurts, a factory (pimple) strewn l<strong>and</strong>scape, an attitude that
we have all the answers—adults 55 can’t possibly underst<strong>and</strong> or tell
us what to do. Conversely, nature is mature. 56 Ignoring recent human
influences, it had already forged its complex, never perfect, but functional
interdependencies <strong>and</strong> had settled into something resembling a steady
state. Adolescents new to the scene may be hugely disruptive <strong>and</strong>
destructive, <strong>and</strong> unless they change their ways, civilization drives straight
into the jaws of failure. The adolescents lack the wisdom to build lasting
systems that will have the privilege of co-existing with nature for very
long.
In human society, most adolescents become adults who learn to live
within their means. Sometimes this involves sacrifices or perhaps selecting
a diet based on nutrition <strong>and</strong> health rather than what might be most
tasty. 57 Likewise, humankind needs to define a scale for its activities
that fits within nature’s capacity to replenish, so that each subsequent
generation is not deprived of resources the previous ones enjoyed. At
present, civilization is nowhere close to this operating principle.
55: ...in this case hypothetical wise humans
who have managed a successful transition
through the adolescent phase
56: Note the similarity of the words!
57: ...opting out of the plan to eat ice cream
for dinner
D.5.4 Frameworks
<strong>Human</strong>ity needs to develop a framework by which to evaluate its
activities <strong>and</strong> ask whether each helps or hurts ultimate human success.
Sometimes this might produce jarring results. Consider, for instance, a
cure for cancer or other advances that might extend human lifetimes.
Only if balanced against a smaller population or a smaller resource
utilization per capita could such seemingly positive developments be
accommodated once a steady equilibrium is established. Otherwise,
total dem<strong>and</strong> on Earth’s resources goes up if the same number of people
live longer at a fixed annual resource utilization per living person. In a
successful world, any proposed new activity would have to demonstrate
how it fits within a sustainable framework. Ignoring the issue would
irresponsibly imperil overall long-term human happiness. 58
At some level, humans need to realize that success means the thriving of
not only themselves, but all of Earth’s precious irreplaceable species <strong>and</strong>
ecosystems. Without them, humans cannot be successful anyway. This is
another part of maturing: many adolescents have difficulty considering
the impacts of their actions on anyone other than themselves. <strong>Human</strong>s
need to realize that hurting any component of Earth is hurting humans,
long-term. Our legal system affords rights to humans, but gives no
agency to plants, animals, or even non-living features of our planet. A
successful future must give voice to every element of our world, lest we
trample it <strong>and</strong> rue the day.
58: In such cases, the outcome may ultimately
settle on longer lives for fewer people.
© 2021 T. W. Murphy, Jr.; Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Lic.;
Freely available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/energy_ambitions.