Definition
Unsustainable argues that seeking to freeze society into a stable condition is dangerous. Static societies eventually fail because new problems arise and only knowledge creation can solve them.
Why It Matters
Static societies are ‘dead ends’ for survival; seeking to freeze a civilization in its current state is a recipe for disaster, as only the continuous creation of new knowledge can solve the new problems that inevitably arise.
Core Concepts
- Sustain has two meanings: It can mean providing what life needs, or preventing change; confusing them distorts policy.
- Static stability is fragile: A society that cannot learn quickly is eventually overwhelmed by a new problem.
- Progress is the safety mechanism: The way to survive change is to increase knowledge creation, not stop history.
- Civilizational risk is epistemic: Catastrophe follows when error-correction is too slow for the problems faced.