Forgiving Humanity

Why has the most innovative of species become so dangerous? The answer, suggests Peter Russell, lies in humanity's accelerating pace of development. He shows how innovation breeds further innovation-a positive feedback loop that leads to exponentially increasing rates of change. But our minds cannot grasp the full implications of exponential growth. This creates a blind spot on the future. We think more in terms of linear change rather than exponential change. However fast the pace of change may be today, it will be much faster in the years to come, bringing ever more rapid scientific and technological advances. But ever-accelerating change also creates stress on the systems involved-personal, social, and planetary. The greater the pace of change, the greater the stress and the more likely systemic breakdown. We are heading into a future with technology beyond our dreams, but in a world that is breaking at the seams.

Russell proposes there is no blame for this. Spiraling rates of development, with all their consequences, positive and negative, are the inevitable fate of any intelligent, technologically-empowered species.

How do we live with exponential change? How can we prepare for a world that is becoming increasingly unpredictable? What does it mean for the future of humanity?