Quality

Reinder's presentation for Tough Talk Sustainability

World History in Context - David Christian (2003)

I am not going to give you a lecture about how bad the world looks today. You have all seen Al Gore, you are all intelligent students who read the news. Instead, I want to reframe the discussion by putting it into context. It is about understanding what we want and how to get it.

Lets take a historical approach...

• Big bang - Noting but a big ball of energy
• Stars and galaxies
• Make Planets - a bit cooler, more complex
• Makes life
• Life evolves
• As the story goes on, matter achieves an ever increasing degree of complexity. In this way we can say that an insect is more complex than a star
• Mamals with their more complex brains
• Monkeys with tools
• Human brains
• Human Language: a surge of complexity by social communication

THINK: Complexity is ever growing, and at every stage is absorbing increasing amounts of energy to create that complexity.

Energy density is linked to complexity
"Complexity, Dense energy flows, fragility, and rarity seem to go together" - Christian D. (2003)

What does this mean?

Sustainability demands that we use our amazing brains to create a more complex system that consumes less energy.
Beyond the need for countering global warming
Beyond the need for poverty reduction
Beyond the need for being environmentally friendly
Create a new system which is more complex, but consumes less energy

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• At Demotech, That is what we do...
  • A new Technology
  • A new Definition of Quality, not as opposed to quantity, but relating to human Ethics
  • A new way of sharing and spreading information

There is Proof

Spreading Water pumps around the world using only information, not the economic system

Hydraulic Ram Pump, now being built in Guatemala, uses one bag of cement to make a pump which usually costs 3000euro

Creating technology which gets better results than current technology, but at one hundredth the cost

Spreading knowledge around the world, to allow Fast Learning