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TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION

Modelling humanity’s predicament

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Technological innovations have allowed exponential growth in the human population and economy, but can it continue? A new model combining population, culture, and innovation projects possible futures for humanity.

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Fig. 1: A new model reveals how growth in the human system (population and economy) is characterized by the positive feedbacks between cumulative cultural evolution, technological innovations, and the increased flow of ecosystem services.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA

    Joseph Robert Burger

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  1. Joseph Robert Burger
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Correspondence to Joseph Robert Burger.

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Burger, J.R. Modelling humanity’s predicament. Nat Sustain 1, 15–16 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-017-0010-z

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