The end of civilization and the future of design.

Facing “catabolic collapse, and the end of civilization” John Thackara eloquently takes on collapsonomics in a high-entropy world…

The stories that remain to be written concern the new and better ways of organizing daily life being born from the ruins of the old. By new and better, I do not mean the happy-clappy bright-green optimism promoted in some quarters these past few years. Let’s not kid ourselves that we can pre-design a smooth transition using immature green technology and wishful thinking. The limits of techno-optimism are explained in a new book chillingly titled Requiem for a Species, by the philosopher Clive Hamilton. He writes that “it’s too late to avert catastrophic change. Our politics and institutions are too dysfunctional to make elegant adaptations. We’d better prepare ourselves for surviving as best we can.”

http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=13788