The idea that all societies and civilizations have natural limits to complexity and diversity. The idea is based on the observations of past societal collapse based on the inability of those societies to adapt to environmental, economic, and demographic growth. At some point, marginal improvements decline and energy costs grow resulting in decline and collapse of social and/or economic systems.
Published in Chapter:
When Things Fall Apart: Global Weirding, Postnormal Times, and Complexity Limits
Christopher Burr Jones (Walden University, USA)
Copyright: © 2019
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-7727-0.ch007
Abstract
The chapter addresses the challenges facing first responders and public administrators due to accelerated warming, global weirding, and the limits to complexity. Similarly, these same challenges are also likely to have an impact on the ability of governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations to implement and realize the sustainable development goals and their 169 targets. The chapter focuses on the state of critical infrastructure, primarily in the USA, and the maintenance and sustainability of the physical systems of energy distribution, transportation, communication, and other basic services that support economic development and social systems. The chapter posits the need to explore these themes through the lens of futures studies and the need to envision and create preferred futures.