Abstract
It is estimated that roughly seventy billion human beings have lived out their lives on planet earth. It is very unlikely that any of the seven billion currently enjoying this planet will be living out the rest of their life any place else. Nonetheless, many of our movies and much of our literature envisions easy space travel that is scientifically unrealistic. On July 24th, 2012 Adam Frank, a professor of physics and astronomy, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times titled: Alone in the Void. This article posited that humanity (Homo sapiens) lives on a planet that is, for all intents and purposes, alone in a vast empty space. Reader comments to this editorial ranged from people who were very confident we were destined to colonize other galaxies to people who had little faith that humanity would even exist on the earth one hundred years from now. The reader’s responses mirror dominant and minority world views of economic theory. The dominant neo-classical economic paradigm is optimistic and growth oriented with faith in technological solutions to pressing social and environmental problems; whereas, the minority paradigm of ecological economics posits a need to move toward a steady state economy governed by the laws of thermodynamics as the preferred path for human progress. I side with ecological economics regarding what collective choices will result in a better future for humanity.
Highlights
Many scholars who ally themselves with the perspective of ecological economics bridle at the ideas of determinist thinking entering into policy discussions regarding sustainable development and normative suggestions as to appropriate paths to human progress [8,9]
Modern civilization has been subsidized by fossil fuel to an extent that few people truly understand
The achievements of modern civilization in the arts, science, and technology are simultaneously incredibly valuable and incredibly vulnerable. Preserving those aspects of modern civilization that support continued development in the arts and sciences will require collective choices that steer our aggregate behaviour onto the path of sustainability
Summary
Many scholars who ally themselves with the perspective of ecological economics bridle at the ideas of determinist thinking entering into policy discussions regarding sustainable development and normative suggestions as to appropriate paths to human progress [8,9]. This discussion of ―The Future of Humanity‖ is premised on the assumption that human beings will make individual and collective choices that will make a difference as to what will be taking place on this planet tomorrow, year, a hundred years and ten thousand years
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