I just want to draw attention to something which we are glossing over, which is that saying economic growth has a very high limit and saying that it has no limit are very, very different claims. If the claim you're making is that it has no limit, then the counterargument is trivial: the universe is finite, it contains a finite capacity for information storage, therefore no matter how you define "economy" the answer you get will be a finite number.
But, I still see a lot of people who won't even concede the point in the case of unlimited growth. That, to me, suggests that we are looking at a deeper phenomenon than can be resolved via logical arguments.
Think about the responses that believers have when confronted with the argument that there is no god. That is not an argument they can confront objectively. They respond with anger, disgust, etc. You're not making a truth claim to them; you're attacking their happiness in the afterlife. You're suggesting that their grandparents have vanished into nothingness instead of being in heaven. No matter what the facts are, they can never accept such an argument.
I get the exact same feeling from all of you arguing for infinite exponential growth. You're not reacting as if this is a truth claim; you're reacting like I'm trying to take away your happy future, in which everyone is fabulously wealthy and everything continuously improves, forever.
Think about how it makes you feel to consider that economic and scientific growth may have a limit. Can you be certain that you are really objective on this topic?
But, I still see a lot of people who won't even concede the point in the case of unlimited growth. That, to me, suggests that we are looking at a deeper phenomenon than can be resolved via logical arguments.
Think about the responses that believers have when confronted with the argument that there is no god. That is not an argument they can confront objectively. They respond with anger, disgust, etc. You're not making a truth claim to them; you're attacking their happiness in the afterlife. You're suggesting that their grandparents have vanished into nothingness instead of being in heaven. No matter what the facts are, they can never accept such an argument.
I get the exact same feeling from all of you arguing for infinite exponential growth. You're not reacting as if this is a truth claim; you're reacting like I'm trying to take away your happy future, in which everyone is fabulously wealthy and everything continuously improves, forever.
Think about how it makes you feel to consider that economic and scientific growth may have a limit. Can you be certain that you are really objective on this topic?