This page describes the research project behind this website. Its purpose is to determine how a stable and sustainable human civilization could be achieved on a finite planet.
It is not a political movement, a lifestyle campaign, a degrowth program, or a speculative technology pitch. Its aim is to rigorously evaluate a specific structural hypothesis and determine whether and how it could realistically function at global scale.
Summary
The purpose of this project is to design a structural model capable of sustaining human civilization within planetary limits while meeting human needs and wants at global scale.
The current work is focused on developing that model: testing its core assumptions, defining how essential needs could be delivered globally, and determining how non-essential wants could be decoupled from physical resource use.
The goal is to determine whether this approach can function at global scale and, if so, to specify how it would operate and how the transition could be executed in a stable and orderly manner.
1. Structural Reality
- Our civilization is already experiencing structural collapse:
- Ecological overshoot: Humanity has exceeded the Earth’s regenerative capacity for decades and is beginning to breach critical planetary boundaries, threatening the long-term habitability of the planet.
- Economic and societal instability: Inequality, political polarization, institutional erosion, demographic imbalances, technological disruption, and geopolitical tension are intensifying, increasing the risk of social fragmentation and conflict.
- Persistent underdevelopment and dissatisfaction: Large parts of the world remain materially underdeveloped, while even affluent societies struggle with declining trust, instability, and widespread dissatisfaction. The global system has not achieved durable equilibrium.
- Long-term stability requires satisfying everybody:
- Human aspirations expand continuously: Stability cannot be achieved by permanently suppressing human aspirations or leaving large populations structurally excluded.
- Universal satisfaction is essential: Durable peace requires a system capable of satisfying the needs and wants of everyone — across regions, generations, and social groups.
- Exclusion breeds instability: Leaving large populations unsatisfied or excluded increases the probability of unrest, conflict, and systemic breakdown.
- No systemic solution exists today:
- Partial solutions: Current proposals address aspects of the crisis — technological innovation, efficiency gains, regulatory reforms, behavioral change, or degrowth — but none resolves the underlying contradiction between expanding demand and finite planetary limits.
- Structural inertia: Governments operate within short political cycles, corporations are driven by growth incentives, and international coordination remains fragmented, making deep structural change difficult.
This reality remains unresolved within the current global system and requires a new systemic approach beyond the scope of existing institutions.
2. Core Hypothesis
This project is based on a single hypothesis:
The only way for human civilization to achieve long-term stability and sustainability is to satisfy non-essential needs virtually rather than through physical consumption.
The reasoning follows directly from the structural reality above:
| If these are true: | Then this must follow: |
|---|---|
| Suppressing human desires leads to conflict and social unrest AND Unchecked physical consumption makes the planet uninhabitable | Long-term stability requires decoupling the satisfaction of human needs and wants from physical resource consumption AND The only viable way to achieve this is to satisfy non-essential needs virtually |
3. Research Questions
The purpose of this research is to answer a set of fundamental questions:
- What physical systems would be required to reliably provide essential needs for everyone?
- How far can non-essential consumption be decoupled from material resource use?
- What technological, economic, and institutional conditions would be required for such a transition?
- Can such a system realistically satisfy all human needs and wants at global scale?
The goal is to determine whether this structural approach can function in practice and, if so, how it could be implemented in a stable and orderly way.
4. Activity Plan
The objective of this project is to rigorously evaluate whether the hypothesis outlined above can function in practice and under what conditions it could be implemented at global scale.
The research will proceed through three primary streams of work.
4.1. Pressure-test the core assumptions
The first stage of the project will critically examine the foundational assumptions behind the hypothesis, and assess whether there is sufficient evidence that:
- human aspirations expand as societies develop,
- large-scale exclusion leads to social instability,
- technology alone cannot sustain indefinite growth in material consumption without breaching planetary limits,
- large-scale decoupling of human satisfaction from material consumption is only achievable through virtual forms of consumption.
This phase will involve a review of existing research across multiple disciplines — including economics, environmental science, political economy, technology studies, and social psychology — as well as consultation with relevant experts.
4.2. Define the physical systems required to meet essential needs
The second stage focuses on identifying how essential human needs could be delivered reliably and sustainably at global scale.
This includes examining:
- food production and distribution systems,
- housing and shelter models,
- healthcare delivery,
- water and sanitation infrastructure,
- energy requirements for essential services.
The objective is to outline system designs capable of meeting these needs for all people while remaining within planetary boundaries.
Where possible, the research will explore models that reduce redundancy, increase efficiency, and simplify global provisioning systems.
4.3. Assess pathways for decoupling non-essential consumption
The third stage investigates how far non-essential human wants can be satisfied without increasing material resource consumption.
This includes examining:
- the current capabilities of digital and virtual systems,
- emerging technologies that expand the scope of virtual experiences and value creation,
- economic and behavioral dynamics influencing consumption patterns,
- potential barriers to large-scale adoption of non-material forms of consumption.
The aim is to determine how far the satisfaction of non-essential wants can realistically shift away from physical production.
5. Expected Outputs
The research will produce a set of concrete outputs designed to clarify whether the proposed structural approach can function in practice and, if so, how it could be implemented.
The primary outputs will include:
- Validated structural assumptions: A rigorously evaluated set of assumptions underlying the hypothesis, based on existing research and expert consultation. This will establish whether the core premises of the project withstand empirical and theoretical scrutiny.
- A global model for delivering essential human needs: A conceptual system design outlining how essential needs (water, food, clothing, housing, healthcare, etc.) could be reliably provided to all people while remaining within planetary limits. Where possible, the model will identify approaches that reduce redundancy, improve efficiency, and simplify global provisioning systems.
- A feasibility assessment of decoupling non-essential consumption from physical production: An evaluation of how far the satisfaction of non-essential human wants can realistically shift from material production to digital and virtual domains, including the technological, economic, and behavioral conditions required for such a transition.
- A structural system model: An integrated framework combining these insights into a coherent model describing:
- the conditions under which such a system could function,
- the institutional and technological components required, and
- the relationships between physical provisioning systems and virtual domains of consumption.
- A preliminary transition pathway: A high-level roadmap outlining how a transition from the current system toward the proposed structure could be initiated and managed in a stable and orderly manner.
The final outcome of the project will be a validated set of structural assumptions and a detailed implementation framework describing how a system capable of sustaining human civilization within planetary limits could operate in practice.
Support This Research
This research is independent and relies on external funding.
The questions outlined here cannot be answered casually or in spare moments. Evaluating the hypothesis, reviewing existing evidence, consulting experts, and developing a credible implementation framework requires sustained and focused work.
If you believe the long-term stability of human civilization — and the challenge of infinite growth on a finite planet — deserves serious investigation, you can help make this work possible.
Your support will allow this research to continue and determine whether the proposed approach represents a viable path toward a stable civilization within planetary limits.
If you are able to contribute, please consider making a donation.
If you are working on related research, have relevant expertise, or would like to get involved, I would love to hear from you.