Growth doesn’t mean that more physical resources changed hands. It just means that a greater exchange of value happened in transactions.
Sure. But then you have to define “value” as an economic concept. And the end result is the AI Bubble, wherein billions of gallons of potable water and gigawatts of flammable gas are valued below a series of incoherent digital images and text blather.
I agree that - in theory - we can create value through bureaucratic efficiency or infrastructure improvements or novel application of scientific discovery. But in practice we appear to fixate on advertising, entertainment, and market speculation. The pursuit of infinite growth is not capped by our access to material resources and the limits of our engineering expertise but by our access to martial force and the resources available to our weaker neighbors.
Sure. But then you have to define “value” as an economic concept. And the end result is the AI Bubble, wherein billions of gallons of potable water and gigawatts of flammable gas are valued below a series of incoherent digital images and text blather.
I agree that - in theory - we can create value through bureaucratic efficiency or infrastructure improvements or novel application of scientific discovery. But in practice we appear to fixate on advertising, entertainment, and market speculation. The pursuit of infinite growth is not capped by our access to material resources and the limits of our engineering expertise but by our access to martial force and the resources available to our weaker neighbors.