582: Gaya Herrington, part 2: How to change systems

Gaya gets systems, how to change them, and not fall prey to rationalizations that sound tempting but are self-serving excuses like "individual actions don't matter" or "only governments and corporations can act on the scale we need." I loved this conversation for her knowledge and experience in what will reverse humanity's pattern of lowering Earth's ability to sustain life.

She shares and elaborates on major points like that technology is just a tool that serves our goals and values. While we value growth over sustainability, technology will accelerate our pattern of lowering Earth's ability to sustain life, not decrease it. We share our frustration with technology fans who misunderstand how technology affects our systems, thinking making it more efficient will lead to less pollution despite centuries of increased efficiency increasing pollution.

She shares about the value of individual actions to change culture and oneself, including her picking up litter with her family. She shares how sustainability creates joy since we are social.

She hints at her upcoming book, which is available now.

• Gaya's book (Creative Commons license, so no cost) is coming out next month. Link to come.
• A brief summary of her work: The Limits to Growth model: still prescient 50 years later
• An brief summary: Data check on the world model that forecast global collapse
• Earth4All: the project supporting her book

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