Sustainability Debate Guide

From PhiloWiki

Stephen Hawking, the famed British astrophysicist and best-selling author, has recently posed a question on Yahoo Answers: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?" (As reported on CNN.com on July 7, 2006.) What are the philosophical aspects of sustainability as it relates to the continuity of economic, social, intellectual, scientific, political, and environmental aspects of society?

1 : capable of being sustained. 2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agriculture> b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use of sustainable methods <sustainable society>

Sustainability from Merriam-Webster

Sustainability is a systemic concept, relating to the continuity of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. It is intended to be a means of configuring civilization and human activity so that society, its members and its economies are able to meet their needs and express their greatest potential in the present, while preserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and planning and acting for the ability to maintain these ideals in a very long term. Sustainability affects every level of organization, from the local neighbourhood to the entire planet.

Sustainability from Wikipedia

Sustainability is the ability to achieve continuing economic prosperity while protecting the natural systems of the planet and providing a high quality of life for its people. Achieving sustainable solutions calls for stewardship, with everyone taking responsibility for solving the problems of today and tomorrow-individuals, communities, businesses and governments are all stewards of the environment.”

Sustainability from EPA

1 Intellectual sustainability
2 Economical and financial sustainability
3 Ecological sustainability
4 References

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Intellectual sustainability

What is intelligence?
Compare and contrast intelligence and knowledge.
Can intelligence be created or destroyed? Can knowledge be created or destroyed?
Does knowledge grow linearly, exponentially, or by some other model?
Is there a correlation between knowledge and experience?
If an individual was removed from this universe and placed in another one, how would prior knowledge and experiences impact the learning of knowledge about the new universe?
Are we more knowledgeable than past generations (100 yrs, 1000 yrs, 10000 yrs)? More intelligent?
Can we reach saturation in knowledge or intelligence?
Is intelligence sustainable? Is knowledge? Is experience? What would society and the world be like if knowledge was not sustainable?
How is intellectual sustainability related to institutional, economical, financial, and ecological sustainability?

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Economical and financial sustainability

What is the purpose of government? Why do governments succeed or fail? How do individual governments play a role in global sustainability?
Is there a correlation between sustainability and competition?
What impact does population growth have on society and the economy? In the U.S., how are immigration and population growth interrelated?
- “According to estimates published by the United States Census Bureau, the Earth's population reached 6.5 billion on Saturday, February 25, 2006. In line with population projections, this figure continues to grow at rates that are unprecedented prior to the 20th century. Approximately one fifth of all humans that have existed in the last six thousand years are currently alive. By some estimates, there are now one billion people in the world between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four, and that the population will reach over 9 billion by 2050.” (Wikipedia)
- In the popular movie The Matrix, humans are likened to viruses. "Every mammal on this planet," explains Agent Smith, "instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area, and you multiply, and multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area."
What are the sustainable consequences of war (or even the threat of war)? Of scientific/technological developments?
- “In a speech June 13 in Hong Kong, [Stephen] Hawking said the survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there's an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth. He said that if humans can avoid killing themselves in the next 100 years, they should have space settlements that can continue without support from Earth.” (CNN.com, Friday, July 7, 2006)
Is history circular? Sustainable?

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Ecological sustainability

What role does evolution have in sustainability? Does biology naturally provide the balance required for sustainability?
Is diversity a key factor to sustainability? How dependent is human survival on its environment?
- “Diversity is a survival factor for the community itself. A community of a hundred million species can survive almost anything short of total global catastrophe. Within that hundred million will be thousands that could survive a global temperature drop of twenty degrees—which would be a lot more devastating than it sounds. Within that hundred million will be thousands that could survive a global temperature rise of twenty degrees. But a community of a hundred species or a thousand species has almost no survival value at all.” (Ishmael, Daniel Quinn, p. 130)
How does population growth impact our ecological systems?
How can technology impact our ecological systems? (Genetic engineering, rerouting or dissipating hurricanes, dams, nanotechnology, etc.)
How would the world change if humans were “overcome” by another species? What species is most likely to “overcome” humans someday? Does technology have the capability of overcoming humanity?
What is the connection between global warming and sustainability? Is global warming a moral or engineering problem?
- “The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral crusade when it's really an engineering problem. The inconvenient truth is that if we don't solve the engineering problem, we're helpless.” (Robert J. Samuelson, Washington Post, Wednesday, July 5, 2006 p. A13)
- “We have everything we need to begin solving this crisis, with the possible exception of the will to act. But in America, our will to take action is itself a renewable resource.” (Al Gore. An Inconvenient Truth. 2006)
What impact does the Kyoto Protocol have on global sustainability? Should the U.S. ratify the treaty? Should India and China remain exempt?
In the novel Ishmael, the author Daniel Quinn defines the Law of Limited Competition and Totalitarian Agriculture. Compare and contrast these concepts.
- “A subset of the Law of Life, the Law of Limited Competition denotes a set of strategies that appear to be evolutionarily stable for all species. Briefly, the Law of Limited Competition is this: ‘You may compete to the full extent of your capabilities, but you may not hunt down your competitors or destroy their food or deny them access to food.’ This system of laws has been called among other things, ‘the peacekeeping law’ and ‘animal ethics.’ The Law of Limited Competition promotes diversity.” (Wikipedia)
- “Totalitarian Agriculture is a form of agriculture predicated on the notion that all food on this planet belongs to humans exclusively; thus: 1) food dedicated to human use may be denied to all other species, 2) any species that would compete for human food may be destroyed at will, 3) food needed by other species may be destroyed at will to make room for the production of human food. Quinn attributes this particular style of agriculture to a single culture, which he has dubbed the "Takers" and describes totalitarian agriculture as originating in Near East with an agricultural revolution about 10,000 years ago. The key difference, according to Quinn, between Totalitarian Agriculture and other forms is that it is not sustainable.” (Wikipedia)
“How are long-term trends in environment and development, including consumption and population, reshaping nature-society interactions in ways relevant to sustainability?” (AAAS Forum on Science and Technology)