The Seneca Effect

Presents wisdom from an ancient Roman Philosopher that you can use today
Explains why technological progress may not prevent societal collapse
Provides a true systems perspective on the widespread phenomenon of collapse
Highlights principles to help us manage, rather than be managed by, the greatest challenges of our times

Presents wisdom from an ancient Roman Philosopher that you can use today Explains why technological progress may not prevent societal collapse Provides a true systems perspective on the widespread phenomenon of collapse Highlights principles to help us manage, rather than be managed by, the greatest challenges of our times Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext
Ugo Bardi teaches physical chemistry at the University of Florence, in Italy. He is interested in resource depletion, system dynamics modeling, climate science and renewable energy. He is member of the scientific committee of ASPO (Association for the study of peak oil) and regular contributor of "The Oil Drum" and "Resilience.org". His blog in English is called "Cassandra's legacy". His most recent book in English Extracted: How the Quest for Global Mining Wealth is Plundering the Planet (Chelsea Green, 2014. He is also the author of The Limits to Growth Revisited (Springer 2011).

Inhalt
Introduction.- Seneca's times: The fall of the Roman Empire.- The Seneca collapse as a critical phenomenon: why do things break?.- Networks: the Seneca collapse of complex structures.- Fast and Furious Seneca: Financial collapses.- Destroying what keeps you alive: the tragedy of the commons.- The World as a Giant Bathtub: the Seneca Collapse of Complex Systems.- World models and the collapse of everything.- The dark heart of the fossil empires.- Malthus was an optimist: famines and population collapses.- The Seneca asteroid: climate change as the ultimate collapse.- Managing complex systems: how to pull the levers in the right direction.- Conclusion: How to euthanize an empire.