STOCKHOLM FUTURISTS MEETUP 20 Jan 2014Adam Jorlen, Futurist@adamjorlen

Simplicity and Sustainability

Where do you see yourself?

Source: Fred Polak - The Image of the Future

Jim Dator’s 4 Generic Futures• Continuation – the current historical trajectory continues, most usually conceivedof as ‘continued economic growth’;

• Collapse – a breakdown of the social order due to one or more of a number ofpossible causes, such as economic instability, environmental overload, resourcedepletion, moral degeneration, military conflict such as an external attack orinternal civil war, meteor/comet impact, etc;

• Disciplined Society – a society organized around some set of overarching values,whether ancient, traditional, ideological, natural, environmental, God-given, etc;

• Transformational Society – which sees the end of current forms of behaviour,beliefs, norms, or organization, and the main sub-variants are ‘emergence of new forms (rather than a return to older or traditional ones, as above), possibly even including intelligent life-forms. The two high-tech’ (technological) and ‘high-spirit’ (spiritual) transformation.

Source: Joseph Voros - Galactic-scale macro-engineering: Looking for signs of other intelligent species, as an exercise in hope for our own

Discipline

Simplicity

Simplicity and Complexity• …Simplicity often lies on the other side of complexity, so for

any problem, the more you can zoom out and embrace complexity, the better chance you have of zooming in on the simple details that matter most.

• TED talk by Ecologist Eric Berlow

The History of Simplicity

Religious and spiritual traditions ( for ex Gautama Buddha, John the Baptist, Laozi, and Confucius)

“Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires.” - Laozi

Philosophy

Jean-Jacques Rousseau strongly praised the simple life in Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750).

“Simplify, Simplify.”

Henri David Thoreau - Walden, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings.

Gandhi and materialism

“You may have occasion to possess or use material things, but the secret of life lies in never missing them.” ~ Mohandas Gandhi

E. F. Schumacher argued against the notion that "bigger is better" in Small Is Beautiful (1973)

Economics

Duane ElginVoluntary Simplicity Movement (1981)

Voluntary Simplicity

Simplicity and Technology

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

[Steve Jobs - BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]

Today• Grassroots awareness campaigns, for ex UK National

Downshifting Week (founded 1995)• DIY ethics• Maker Movement• ?

Discuss: A Garden of Simplicity• Uncluttered Simplicity – Plato: “simplify the mechanics of the

ordinary, everyday life.”• Ecological Simplicity – lighter touch on Earth• Family Simplicity – quality of relations and integrity with each

other• Compassionate Simplicity - Gandhi: “Choose to live simply so

that other simply can live”• Soulful Simplicity – Connection with all life in all its richness• Business Simplicity – Sustainable products and services• Civic Simplicity – public transport, education, design of cities

and work places• Frugal Simplicity – Skillful practices of our personal finances

Source: Duane Elgin: Voluntary Simplicity: Cool Lifestyle for a Hot Planet

Questions

* In an increasingly complex world; how effective have the calls for simplicity by Thoreau, Elgin et al been?

* What can we do to find the simplicity beyond complexity in our lives?

* What's next for simplicity and sustainability?

The Future of Sustainability?

Source: Jean Russell – What is Thrivability?