More From Less: How We Learned to Create More Without Using More
Written by Andrew McAfee
Narrated by Andrew McAfee
4/5
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About this audiobook
Throughout history, the only way for humanity to grow was by degrading the Earth: chopping down forests, polluting the air and water, and endlessly using up resources. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the focus has been on radically changing course: reducing our consumption, tightening our belts, and learning to share and reuse. Is that argument correct?
Absolutely not. In More from Less, McAfee argues that to solve our ecological problems we should do the opposite of what a decade of conventional wisdom suggests. Rather than reduce and conserve, we should rely on the cost-consciousness built into capitalism and the streamlining miracles of technology to create a more efficient world.
America—a large, high-tech country that accounts for about 25% of the global economy—is now generally using less of most resources year after year, even as its economy and population continue to grow. What’s more, the US is polluting the air and water less, emitting fewer greenhouse gases, and replenishing endangered animal populations. And, as McAfee shows, America is not alone. Other countries are also transforming themselves in fundamental ways.
What has made this turnabout possible? One thing, primarily: the collaboration between technology and capitalism, although good governance and public awareness have also been critical. McAfee does warn of issues that haven’t been solved, like global warming, overfishing, and communities left behind as capitalism and tech progress race forward. But overall, More from Less is a revelatory and “deeply engaging” (Booklist) account of how we’ve stumbled into an unexpectedly better balance with nature—one that holds out the promise of more abundant and greener centuries ahead.
Andrew McAfee
Andrew McAfee is a principal research scientist at MIT Sloan School of Management and the cofounder and codirector of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, where he studies how digital technologies are changing business, the economy, and society. He has discussed his work at such venues as TED, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the World Economic Forum. His prior books include the New York Times bestseller The Second Machine Age and Machine, Platform, Crowd. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Reviews for More From Less
18 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5It seems humanity is using less stuff. It also seems that Venezuela is the only attempt at socialism ever made on this planet and RoundUp is unquestionably the safest thing ever in the history of man. I quit reading, at some point it became clear this man cannot distinguish his right wing fantasy from reality.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Great book on dematerialization happening due to technology. The author presents history of industrialization and how it damaged the environment but the technology is reversing it by producing more from less. Think of aluminum can that started in the US and it weight 85 grams compared to 12.5 grams today. The author is free market champion but very objective about capitalism regarding its pros and cons on how it protects environment.