Blueprints for a Better Future in Humanity...

Responsible attention to the long-term future would not be complete without considering global catastrophic risk (GCR).  Scenarios of anthropogenic GCR include: misuse or abuse of AI nuclear war runaway technologies ecosystem breakdown Scenarios of non-anthropogenic GCR include: plagues / pandemics  calderas / supervolcanoes  comets / asteroids  solar flares / coronal mass ejections  gamma ray burst contact with extraterrestrial life In the event of a GCR occurring amid BAU, BAU2, CT, or SW, significant fallout would follow in the aftermath and setback civilization on multiple levels, unless otherwise planned to withstand by design.

The extrapolation of world futures using scenarios and simulation models dates back to The Limits to Growth (1972) and its update in 2004. These studies popularized the World3 model that has outputted four primary scenarios for global futures. According to  Earth4All , these include:  Business-as-usual (BAU) , projects past trends forward Business-as-usual better than expected (BAU2) , assumes double the natural resources of BAU Comprehensive technology (CT) , assumes double the natural resources of BAU but also an advanced technological infrastructure, rapidly adopted, that increases the efficiency with which we extract and use resources while abating pollution. Stabilized World (SW ), assumes double the natural resources of BAU, a comprehensive technology, and a change in societal values and priorities. Designs that serve BAU and BAU2 typically maintain short time horizons and are modular, incremental, and small-scale. These designs do not question the highest level purpose ...

I'm interested in discerning the degree of synthesis and balance between these oppositional factors appropriate to every given context. Whole ←→ Part Global ←→ Local Top-Down ←→ Bottom Up Centralized ←→ Decentralized Concentrated ←→ Distributed Convergent Thinking ←→ Divergent Thinking Short-Term Thinking  ←→ Long-Term Thinking Reductionist Thinking ←→ Holistic Thinking Modular Designs ←→ Integrated Designs Planning ←→ Improvisation Design ←→ Evolution Innovation ←→ Tradition  Invention ←→ Discovery Coherence ←→ Diversity Control ←→ Conformity Being ←→ Becoming Efficiency ←→ Efficacy  Resilience ←→ Robustness Form ←→ Function Analysis ←→ Synthesis Theory ←→ Practice Rigor ←→ Relevance Speed ←→ Timing Explicit ←→ Tacit Quality ←→ Quantity Correct ←→ Convenient Security ←→ Freedom  Scarcity ←→ Abundance Context ←→ Content Basic Science ←→ Applied Science

I envision a world that: Coincides with the carrying capacity of Earth Favors scientific method as a source of explanations Relies on engineering to improve human life on Earth Coordinates all people to transcend national borders Fulfills the necessities of life, education, health, and culture Treats resources as common heritage and engages in equitable resource sharing  Addresses problems via prevention using a systems approach Shares and applies new technologies for the benefit of life Prioritizes the production of high-quality, long-lasting products Restores and enhances the natural biosystems and ecosystem services Stabilizes the world’s population through education and voluntary birth control Withstands and adapts to change I also envision a world without: War, poverty, crime, prisons, police, military, money, debt, servitude, disease, pollution, prejudice, artificial scarcity, nation-states, market-state, nationalism, elitism, perverse incentives 

To transcend our limitations, I propose we work toward a worldwide, resource-based economy, a holistic social and economic system in which the planetary resources are held as the common heritage of all the earth’s inhabitants. The current practice of rationing resources through monetary methods is irrelevant, counter-productive, and falls far short of meeting humanity’s needs. Simply stated, within a Resource Based Economy we will utilize existing resources – rather than money – to provide an equitable method of distribution in the most humane and efficient manner. It is a system in which all goods and services are available to everyone without the use of money, credits, barter, or any other form of debt or servitude. To better understand a resource-based economy, consider this. If all the money in the world disappeared overnight, as long as topsoil, factories, personnel and other resources were left intact, we could build anything we needed to fulfill most human needs. It is not money...