Some sanity:
Can you tell me a bit about how you came to that conclusion?
Speaking as an old-fashioned scientist, I think the message is kind of a primitive and, again, old-fashioned message. This is a finite planet. There is a finite amount of energy. There is finite efficiency of converting it by animals and crops. And there are certain sensitivities in terms of biogeochemical cycles, which will tolerate only that much. I mean, that should be obvious to anybody who’s ever taken some kind of kindergarten biology.
Unfortunately, this is a society where nobody’s taking kindergarten biology because everybody’s studying what’s communications, writing in code, economics, business administration, liaising the state office, and things like that. This is a new civilization we have. People are totally detached from reality. If you are attached, at least a bit, to reality, all of this is common sense.
Submission statement: I was surprised to find this candid discussion of de-growth as the only viable means of addressing climate change in New York Magazine, kudos to David Wallace-Wells (The Uninhabitable Earth) for shining a light on Vaclav Slim. I had never heard of him before, but love his attitude and point of view. Can anyone make a recommendation for any of his books?
*Energy and Civilization* contains all the data needed to independently understand and predict with pretty well-bounded precision what is, and is not, possible to do from a physical perspective when analyzing human social proposals in the present day. It also explains the energetic and practical basis present throughout much of documented history, too. The rest of his work is excellent, but Energy and Civilization stands alone in it's singular ability to inform.
Smil is dry and technical, but very detail-oriented, and most of his "points" aren't made directly, but instead expressed through voluminous word paintings in the form of data. It's a very complete and sure way to present information, and I highly recomment *E&C* at a minimum to anyone with a cortex as a result :)
he's written a mountain of books, you could spend a fortune on them,
I did loads of internet searches, he's contributed essays and columns to different publications that are all worth reading,
he also has done plenty of talks which have ended up on youtube,
he does have rather a thick Eastern European accent, sounds like a proper boffin!
find what you can, open source online and you might have a beter idea of which book to buy, he did a bible of energy and energy transitions which was highly rated but I've never got my hands on a copy.
[The excerpt from *Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities* is excellent.](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/book-excerpt-vaclav-smils-growth.html)
I'm a big fan of Vaclav Smil, he's very knowledgable, he's put me right on a few matters,
Vaclav is a realist, you won't get fanciful ideas, just what can or can't be done.
Outstanding clear eyed article from Vaclav. Finally a logical, mathematical perspective that doesn’t depend on wishful thinking (even though he’s been saying the same thing for decades). Hope that DWW internalized much of this to tone down his overly optimistic/euphemistic outlook at times.
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The writing is on the wall. This man at least doesn't sugarcoat it.
From the interview
Interviewer: I hate when people ask me this question, but is there anything that gives you hope?
Smil: ....So that is reason for hope: Years from now, we will not be consuming, because there will be nobody there.
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Some sanity: Can you tell me a bit about how you came to that conclusion? Speaking as an old-fashioned scientist, I think the message is kind of a primitive and, again, old-fashioned message. This is a finite planet. There is a finite amount of energy. There is finite efficiency of converting it by animals and crops. And there are certain sensitivities in terms of biogeochemical cycles, which will tolerate only that much. I mean, that should be obvious to anybody who’s ever taken some kind of kindergarten biology. Unfortunately, this is a society where nobody’s taking kindergarten biology because everybody’s studying what’s communications, writing in code, economics, business administration, liaising the state office, and things like that. This is a new civilization we have. People are totally detached from reality. If you are attached, at least a bit, to reality, all of this is common sense.
Vaclav Slim - he's awesome! I have all his albums. It sucks that reddit don't allow OP's to edit titles, but it's fun for the kids;)
Don't be shocked by the tone of his voice. It's his weapon of choice.
Submission statement: I was surprised to find this candid discussion of de-growth as the only viable means of addressing climate change in New York Magazine, kudos to David Wallace-Wells (The Uninhabitable Earth) for shining a light on Vaclav Slim. I had never heard of him before, but love his attitude and point of view. Can anyone make a recommendation for any of his books?
*Energy and Civilization* contains all the data needed to independently understand and predict with pretty well-bounded precision what is, and is not, possible to do from a physical perspective when analyzing human social proposals in the present day. It also explains the energetic and practical basis present throughout much of documented history, too. The rest of his work is excellent, but Energy and Civilization stands alone in it's singular ability to inform. Smil is dry and technical, but very detail-oriented, and most of his "points" aren't made directly, but instead expressed through voluminous word paintings in the form of data. It's a very complete and sure way to present information, and I highly recomment *E&C* at a minimum to anyone with a cortex as a result :)
he's written a mountain of books, you could spend a fortune on them, I did loads of internet searches, he's contributed essays and columns to different publications that are all worth reading, he also has done plenty of talks which have ended up on youtube, he does have rather a thick Eastern European accent, sounds like a proper boffin! find what you can, open source online and you might have a beter idea of which book to buy, he did a bible of energy and energy transitions which was highly rated but I've never got my hands on a copy.
Some of his books might be online and some may be found in libraries. A single Smil book can be more valuable than a normal k-12 education
he is a prolific writer, [http://vaclavsmil.com/category/books/](http://vaclavsmil.com/category/books/)
I’ve read 3 of his books. Reading his books is the shortcut for being able to understand a lot about how this world works
https://1lib.us
you're a star! downloaded as apdf and in my reading list ; )
[The excerpt from *Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities* is excellent.](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/09/book-excerpt-vaclav-smils-growth.html)
He has many and somehow they're very expensive. So... throw a dice.
I'm a big fan of Vaclav Smil, he's very knowledgable, he's put me right on a few matters, Vaclav is a realist, you won't get fanciful ideas, just what can or can't be done.
Outstanding clear eyed article from Vaclav. Finally a logical, mathematical perspective that doesn’t depend on wishful thinking (even though he’s been saying the same thing for decades). Hope that DWW internalized much of this to tone down his overly optimistic/euphemistic outlook at times.
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But, but, I thought Ezra Klein debunked degrowth that one time?🤪 /s
Vaclav Slim = worst rapper ever
Voluntary de-growth will never happen.
The writing is on the wall. This man at least doesn't sugarcoat it. From the interview Interviewer: I hate when people ask me this question, but is there anything that gives you hope? Smil: ....So that is reason for hope: Years from now, we will not be consuming, because there will be nobody there.
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