The Ultimate resource
by Julian Lincoln Simon · first published 1981
15mentions
5recommended by
12HN commenters
2008–2021first – last mentioned
42% recommend58% neutral
Presents a strong counterargument to those arguing for limits on population growth and the using up of natural resources and food. Human resources driving the discovery of new natural resources are the core of Simon's expansionist theories. This book and those by Herman Kahn are important to have a balence presentation of expansionist with conserver views.
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Two fundamental arguments of the thesis that we will not "run out" of natural resources for productive purpose have been made eloquently in: - The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon [1] --the human mind has limitless potential to select and pursue the use of materials; and - Capitalism by George Reisman [2] -- the phenomenon of price responds to actual supply and…
on “Why most resources don't run out” ↗…automatically moves people into the energy business in order to solve the high oil price problem. The late economist Julian Simon has a terrific book about these issues: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Resource See also the "Conservation of Resources" section here: http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp#p242
on “Earth may be constantly producing oil” ↗…the related notion of ostensibly limited resources. Worth checking out if you are not already familiar with his viewpoint: The Ultimate Resource, 1981, Princeton University Press, ISBN 069109389X. The Ultimate Resource 2, 1996, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691042691. http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/
on “The Population Bomb Has Been Defused” ↗…discovery of photovoltaic alone means we can take gigantic amounts of energy from a huge fusion reactor in the sky. More humans consistently has meant the exact opposite of what you are suggesting. Read 'The Ultimate Resource' by Simons that was a direct response to the 'Population Bomb' people. The difference between a bunch of dirt, a bunch of stone or a bunch of dirty sand is technology. Technology, human knowledge and…
on “United Airlines will buy 15 planes from Boom Supersonic” ↗Yep, that's a deluded fantasy all right. See "Ultimate Resource 2", "The Resourceful Earth", or "State of Humanity" by Julian Simon or "Earth Report 2000" by Ronald Bailey.
on “C: A Technological Landmine” ↗I think what's he's saying is that "peaking" is meaningless. There's a book that was written back in the early 90s called The Ultimate Resource, by Julian Simon. A fair amount of it is typical libertarian wishful thinking, but he very strongly makes the point that in a free society, there is no such thing as a peak. There are always alternatives,…
on “No Population Bomb” ↗>The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon [1] --the human mind has limitless potential to select and pursue the use of materials Only if those materials exist in the actual world first. So not that limitless after all. (And that's…
on “Why most resources don't run out” ↗>Time is the only thing we will never be able to make more of. It is The Ultimate Resource, as Julian Simon points out. This makes Bitcoin the ultimate form of money because its issuance is directly linked to the ultimate resource of our universe: time. All things equal, BTC has a limited…
on “Bitcoin Is Time” ↗For the population effects see Julian Simon's "The Great Breakthrough and Its Cause" for the historical analysis. His "Ultimate Resource" talks about the current and recent historical benefits of population.
on “An astrophysicist reviews the science of "Avatar".” ↗…more than the fact that it's been proven incorrect over and over again. Even though doom and gloom about things like "overpopulation" have been debunked time and again by people like Julian Simon ("The Ultimate Resource") you'll never convince people who've bought into it to change their minds.
on “Japan's aging population could actually be good news” ↗…less than $100, today. Who cares if software is bloated?" http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=305937 . Julian Simon's apropos quote of Shakespeare (Sonnet 1): http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR3... Making a famine where abundance lies, ... And, tender churl, mak'st waste in niggarding.
on “Post-scarcity Software” ↗…http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/RiskandSafety.html http://www.google.com/search?q=aaron+wildavsky http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress http://www.google.com/search?q=john+mccarthy+sustainability http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/~blc/book http://www.google.com/search?q=war+against+the+atom http://jamesphogan.com/heretics
on “Ask HN: What are some (good) hacker movies?” ↗they appear to be talking about something pretty different than cheeseburger and soda ingredients in the linked article It is a book chapter (6, of The Ultimate Resource II). Have you read the book?: http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource
on “Tubes for the Sticks: Internet for Rural America” ↗Just read about Julian Simon's book, "The Ultimate Resource 2 (1997)", in which he argues that the world will never run out of resources, as it is the human mind that drives advance, not capital or materials. In other words, just as Marcus_Holmes argued, supply…
on “High-Tech can’t last: there are limited essential elements” ↗…wetlands/lakes/oceans/hillsides/mountainsides, and 3) substituting in the forms of vertical and soil-free agriculture and other forms. As I noted previously, "A mine is not a permanent use of land." http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Ultimate_Resource/TCHAR0... Both ignorance and mysticism enter importantly into conventional thinking about farmland. For example, one hears that "once it's paved over, it's gone for good." Not so. Consider the situation…
on “22 years of job creation wiped out in a day” ↗