50 years ago, in 1972, 17 scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology produced the report The Limits of Growth on behalf of the Club of Rome. The report concluded that the growth of the world ' s population during the time, industrialization, pollution, food production and exploitation of natural resources, if kept constant, would reach the absolute limits of Earth ' s growth by 2070. In his publication he received strong criticism from scientists and the media. He was accused of being very simple and Malthusian. However, it has made us an undisputed scientific milestone in the current eco-social crisis.
The research was a computer simulation of the World3 program. And the main thesis, “on a large but limited planet, the dynamics of exponential growth (population and production) are not permanent, nor sustainable.” In other words, the planet places limits on growth, mineral resources are irrenewable, finite arable land, and the capacity of the ecosystem to absorb pollution from human paper is limited. We accept the laws of entropy and exergia.
"Systems thinking is the first step towards proactive and effective solutions"
Environmental scientist Donella Meadows was the director of the report The Limits of Growth and, until her death in 2001, fought for the myth of the continued growth of our civilization. This woman is the author of the book "Thinking in Systems." The paper shows us how to develop the skills of systemic thinking that are considered fundamental to the life of the 21st century.
The major problems the world has -- wars, hunger, poverty and environmental degradation -- are basically system defects. They're not linear. They cannot be repaired by isolating one piece from others. They're not simple. We live on an increasingly complex, saturated and crowded planet, and thinking about systems is the first step towards proactive and effective solutions, according to Meadows.
Abandoning complex systems avoids responsibility. According to Jorge Riechman and others, while we do not see ourselves in the mirror, our reality is built with more and more artificial systems, forcing the disconnection between parties, hindering political regulation and social control and denying dignified lives. That's what we've learned from that female scientist.
(Recalling those killed on the border of Melilla).