Abstract :
Taking stock of where we are, as a species, and what needs doing to bring about a sustainable future is vital; but not sufficient. Barriers standing in the way must be recognized and overcome. Here are seven I will explore: First, our universal, but now fatal, attraction to paths that promise minimal effort. Second, the desire to want and value more children than the biosphere can afford. Third, our predisposition not to connect what we do with its large scale impacts as hundreds of millions do just like we do. Fourth, the boiled frog syndrome. Human produced changes to the biosphere and the sociosphere are extremely rapid on a geological time scale. But, they are too slow to trigger inner alarms. Fifth, intense worldwide competition for an ldquoedgerdquo leaves little or no room for player choice. Sixth, addiction. We consign addiction to individuals, but, entire societies can become addicted as we have to oil. The seventh barrier wraps the rest. It´s the tragedy of the commons. Unsustainable development is a tragedy of the global commons.
