MERITS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF ECO-BALANCING
MERITS AND SHORTCOMINGS OF ECO-BALANCING

Summary/Abstract: Trust in economic growth within the industrialized post war society was upset for the first time in the 1970ies by the energy crisis. At the same time rapid development in information and communication technology started. Like in a process of coevolution modeling of complex systems, computing and calculating have developed as fast as the environmental problems themselves. Products are regarded as living systems (life cycle assessment) and nature is seen like a global manageable firm. This thinking is reflected by language (life cycle of products, eco - balancing of natural systems). Qualities expressed by language and culture get lost in such scientific and political climate. The exclusive coherence to calculations and checklists limits the scope of our abilities to foresee sometimes unexpected, often trivial effects, among them many kinds of rebound effects. This contribution advocates amending environmental analysis by telling material history about and around things and systems to obviate our surprise on such effects.

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