> it's also possible that my statement of what > seems to be the most fascinating and relevant > problem of our times is incomplete, and I very > openly welcome contributions to how it should be posed
It seems to be a bit incomplete indeed. If I understand you right, you want us to formulate the question which you want to ask us then ? That's a bit odd, isn't it ? Why do you think growth is the most fascinating and relevant problem of our times ? Here are four reasons why growth is interesting. 1. What I find interesting about growth is that it is often associated with shrinkage, for instance you become a personality by giving up the freedom to try different things, by learning more and more about an increasingly narrow field until you have become an expert who knows everything about nothing. 2. Growth is also interesting because it is of fundamental importance in many complex adaptive systems and organizations: religious, political, military and other groups try to do everything to ensure growth. Growth means more jobs, more money, more gain. The more agents an organization has, the more power, influence, and reputation are available for the leader. This contant drive for growth causes a lot of problems, but it is more a fact than a problem. As Shimon Peres said "If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact - not to be solved, but to be coped with over time." 3. Growth is important to nourish illusions of the poor to become rich: the classic american dream resembles the dreams of China and India today. Most people are poor and have a bad life, and everybody beliefs he can make it if he only works hard enough, and this belief is fueled by constant growth. Yet real success is often an exception, while most people are exploited badly, only a few people really make it, often lucky people who have been at the right place at the right time with the right idea. 4. Finally growth is interesting because it is a process related to self-organization and the increase of complexity, especially if it is combined with positive feedback (for example Paul Krugman's model of city formation or Schelling's segregation model, or the "preferential attachment" model for complex scale-free networks). -J. ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
