Abstract
A sustainable system is not necessarily a high-quality one, but it could be. We could, for example, “survive” on the desperate edge, as the remnants in a self-fouled and deteriorating environment. Why won’t a future sustainable system be just another industrial model of mass efficiency and throughput? Perhaps the incompatible outcomes are a choice between the sometimes nearly invisible civilizing aspects of culture nurturing respect, equality, and cooperation on one hand, and the greed and self-indulgences undermining social tolerance, empathy, and cooperation that ends up promoting violence and dehumanization. The human heritage is subtle, indestructible, and worth nurturing if we want that hospitable sustainable system. But, assuming that a kind of social osmosis will be sufficient to sustain justice and fairness is wrongheaded and dismisses the historical examples. A new cultural narrative is needed to override the maladaptive dissonance preventing formation of sustainable systems. This narrative will be anchored in personal initiatives, incorporates an appreciation of our evolved heritage, and is informed by intentional social learning within groups and occasional social punishment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Fossil records suggest modern humans emerged in sub-Saharan Africa about 200,000 years ago, but their dispersal is thought to have begun about 70,000 years ago and resulted in very little inbreeding with the Neanderthals. The earliest evidence of modern humans appears in Australia, dating to about 50,000 years ago.
- 2.
Ayowenta is the Onondaga spelling of Hiawatha, who is not the imaginary person of H.W. Longfellow’s poem.
- 3.
Ayowenta is sometimes also known as the “Translator” because of Deganawidah’s presumed speech impediment.
References
Abram D (1996) The spell of the sensuous. Random House, New York
Boehm C (1999) Hierarchy in the forest: the evolution of egalitarian behavior. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Brosnan SF, de Waal FBM (2003) Monkeys reject unequal pay. Nature 425:297–299
De Waal F (2007) Chimpanzee politics: power and sex among apes. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Fehr E, Bernhard H, Rockenbach B (2008) Egalitarianism in young children. Nature 454:1079–1083
Gächter S, Renner E, Sefton M (2008) The long-run benefits of punishment. Science 322:1510
Gandhi MK (1909) Hind Swaraj or Indian home rule. Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad (Re-published in 1938)
Henrich J, Ensminger J, McElreath R et al (2010) Markets, religion, community size, and the evolution of fairness and punishment. Science 327:1480–1484
Herrmann B, Thoni C, Gachter S (2008) Antisocial punishment across societies. Science 319:1362–1367
Johansen BE, Mann BA (eds) (2000) Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). Greenwood, Westport
Kaplan S (1995) The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. J Environ Psych 15:169–182
Kuo FE, Taylor AF (2004) A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. Am J Public Health 94:1580–1586
Lansing JS (2007) Priests and programmers: technologies of power in the engineered landscape of Bali. Princeton University Press, Princeton
LaPeyre M, Mendelssohn IA, Reams MA et al (2001) Identifying determinants of nation’s wetland management programs using structural equation modeling: an exploratory analysis. Environ Manage 27:859–868
Levine RV (2003) The kindness of strangers. Am Scient 91:226–233
Paul DN (2000) We were not the savages. Fernwood, Halifax
Pergams ORW, Zaradic PA (2008) Evidence for a fundamental and pervasive shift away from nature-based recreation. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 105:2295–2300
Range F, Horn L, Viranyi Z, Huber L (2009) The absence of reward induces inequity aversion in dogs. Proc Nat Acad Sci 106:340–345
Semmann D, Krambeck HJ, Milinski M (2003) Volunteering leads to rock-paper-scissors dynamics in a public goods game. Nature 425:390–393
Shepard P (1996) The only world we’ve got: a Paul Shepard reader. San Francisco Books, Sierra Club
Sigmund K, De Silaa H, Traulsen A, Hauert C (2010) Social learning promotes institutions for governing the commons. Nature 466:816–863
Taylor AF, Kuo FE, Sullivan WC (2001) Views of nature and self-discipline: evidence from inner city children. J Environ Psychol 21:1–15
Ulrich RS (1984) View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science 224:420–421
Ulrich RS (2007) Visual landscapes and psychological well-being. Landscape Res 4:17–23
Ulrich RS, Simons RF, Losito BD et al (1991) Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. J Environ Psych 11:201–230
Wilkerson RG, Pickett K (2009a) Income inequality and social dysfunction. Ann Rev Sociol 35:493–511; http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/
Wilkerson R, Pickett K (2009b) The spirit level: why greater equality makes societies stronger. Bloomsbury Press, London http://www.slideshare.net/equalitytrust/the-spirit-level-slides-from-the-equality-trust
Zinn HA (2003) A people’s history of the United States: 1492-present. Harper Collins, New York
Acknowledgments
I thank Mike Weinstein for the encouragement here and in previous collaborations leading up to this effort. I first explored this topic in Matfield Green, KS, at the 2005 Graduate Student Fellowship meeting of the Land Institute (Wes Jackson, Founder). Any inadequacies found herein, however, are the consequence of being a poor student—a “bug” in the web of this life, who has been incredibly fortunate to have experienced inspiring examples in the natural world, benefited from readings, ordinary life with others, and had precious encounters with profound teachers. Financial support was provided by NSF award DEB-1008184.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Turner, R.E. (2012). Sustainability: More About the Toolmaker than the Tools. In: Weinstein, M., Turner, R. (eds) Sustainability Science. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3188-6_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3188-6_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3187-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3188-6
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)