Back in 2008 I published a novel, “Inventing for the Sustainable Planet”. It follows technical writer Max Wahlter as he uses creativity techniques to invent sustainable technology. He was hoping to sell some to augment his measly salary.
The book is an allegory for our situation today. We are hoping we can implement green technology to prevent global heating destabilising the climate and to increase our chances of survival in any large numbers.
Similar to a sustainable Gulliver’s Travels, Max visits a world that is living sustainably, and he eagerly sets about documenting the technology they are using, hoping to find something he can patent.
He is baffled; none of the technology is new to him. After a short time he realises that he is in a world that has technology he is familiar with, but a social order that is new. He proceeds to document this social technology, and starts to ask how come this society changed to this new social order.
Although the book is quite a few years old, I believe it holds some clues for how we can move forward: both using technology that we have better, but also developing a new social order.
Stephen Hinton Consulting 