Multi-disciplinary presentation of Simplicity for Perth Oz Foresight Cafe 11 Dec 2015 by Adam Jorlen

1. PERTH OZ FORESIGHT CAFÉ
VIC PARK MINILAB
11 Dec 2015
Adam Jorlen, Futurist
@adamjorlen
Simplicity and
Sustainability

2. Jim Dator’s 4 Generic Futures
• Continuation – the current historical trajectory continues, most usually conceived
of as ‘continued economic growth’;
• Collapse – a breakdown of the social order due to one or more of a number of
possible causes, such as economic instability, environmental overload, resource
depletion, moral degeneration, military conflict such as an external attack or
internal civil war, meteor/comet impact, etc;
• Disciplined Society – a society organized around some set of overarching values,
whether ancient, traditional, ideological, natural, environmental, God-given, etc;
• Transformational Society – which sees the end of current forms of behaviour,
beliefs, norms, or organization, and the main sub-variants are ‘emergence of new forms
(rather than a return to older or traditional ones, as above), possibly even including intelligent
life-forms. The two high-tech’ (technological) and ‘high-spirit’ (spiritual) transformation.
Source: Joseph Voros - Galactic-scale macro-engineering: Looking for signs of other intelligent species, as an exercise in hope for our own

3. Discipline

4. Simplicity

5. Simplicity and Complexity
• …Simplicity often lies on the other side of complexity, so for
any problem, the more you can zoom out and embrace
complexity, the better chance you have of zooming in on the
simple details that matter most.
• TED talk by Ecologist Eric Berlow

6. Simplicity – A Multidisciplinary Concept

7. The History of Simplicity
Religious and spiritual
traditions ( for ex Gautama
Buddha, John the Baptist,
Laozi, and Confucius)
“Manifest plainness,
Embrace simplicity,
Reduce selfishness,
Have few desires.”
- Laozi

8. Philosophy
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
strongly praised the simple
life in Discourse on the Arts
and Sciences (1750).

9. “Simplify, Simplify.”
Henri David Thoreau -
Walden, a reflection on
simple living in natural
surroundings.

10. Gandhi and materialism
“You may have occasion
to possess or use
material things, but the
secret of life lies in never
missing them.”
~ Mohandas Gandhi

11. E. F. Schumacher argued
against the notion that
"bigger is better" in Small
Is Beautiful (1973)
Economics

12. Duane Elgin
Voluntary Simplicity
Movement (1981)
Voluntary Simplicity

13. Simplicity and Technology
“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and
simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You
have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make
it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once
you get there, you can move mountains.”
[Steve Jobs - BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998]

14. Today
• Grassroots awareness campaigns, for ex UK National
Downshifting Week (founded 1995)
• DIY ethics – The Maker Movement
• Slow
• The Sharing Economy

15. Discuss – A Garden of Simplicity
• Uncluttered Simplicity – Plato: “simplify the mechanics of the
ordinary, everyday life.”
• Ecological Simplicity – lighter touch on Earth
• Family Simplicity – quality of relations and integrity with each
other
• Compassionate Simplicity - Gandhi: “Choose to live simply so
that other simply can live”
• Soulful Simplicity – Connection with all life in all its richness
• Business Simplicity – Sustainable products and services
• Civic Simplicity – public transport, education, design of cities
and work places
• Frugal Simplicity – Skillful practices of our personal finances
Source: Duane Elgin: Voluntary Simplicity: Cool Lifestyle for a Hot Planet

16. Questions
* In an increasingly complex world; how effective have the calls
for simplicity by Thoreau, Elgin et al been?
* What can we do to find the simplicity beyond complexity in
our lives?
* What's next for simplicity and sustainability?