The idea of sustainability can imply there is one perfect, unchanging future, if only we could work out how to get there. Resilience might be more useful, in that it assumes a dynamic environment and that perfection is impossible. You need to design systems to accommodate failure rather than eliminate it. By trying to be perfect, many visions of sustainability are quite brittle
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of resilience over the pursuit of a perfect and static future in sustainability.
Jamais Cascio's quote challenges the conventional notion of sustainability by suggesting that aiming for a flawless state is often unrealistic and can lead to inflexibility. Instead, he advocates for resilience, which acknowledges the unpredictable nature of the world and encourages the development of systems that can adapt to failures. This perspective promotes a more pragmatic and effective approach to sustainability, recognizing that imperfection is inherent in life and that embracing this can lead to more robust solutions.
In practice
During a workshop on sustainable practices, this quote can be used to stimulate discussion on adapting to changes in environmental conditions.
Sustainability is a seemingly laudable goal - it tells us we need to live within our means, whether economic, ecological, or political - but it's insufficient for uncertain times. How can we live within our means when those very means can change, swiftly and unexpectedly, beneath us?
Trying to do what your competitors are doing but basically a little bit better is probably not going to be the winning strategy. The problem is finding what your competitors wouldn't even consider doing.
Being connected to the Internet means being vulnerable to coordinated actions that can knock down walls of secrecy and shatter mechanisms of control.
You may bury my body down by the highway side. So my old evil spirit can catch a Greyhound bus and ride.
When all the archetypes burst out shamelessly, we plumb the depths of Homeric profundity. Two clichés make us laugh but a hundred clichés moves us because we sense dimly that the clichés are talking among themselves, celebrating a reunion. . . . Just as the extreme of pain meets sensual pleasure, and the extreme of perversion borders on mystical energy, so too the extreme of banality allows us to catch a glimpse of the Sublime.
All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows.
Dhikr (remembrance of Allah) is to the heart as water is to a fish; see what happens to a fish when it is taken out of water
Little islands are all large prisons: one cannot look at the sea without wishing for the wings of a swallow.
I'm one of those people that you have to keep your eye on or I'll wander off into the woods and forget to come back.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.