Overview

Techno-Fix questions a primary paradigm of our age: that advanced technology will extricate us from an ever increasing load of social, environmental, and economic ills. Techno-Fix shows why negative unintended consequences of science and technology are inherently unavoidable and unpredictable, why counter-technologies, techno-fixes, and efficiency improvements do not offer lasting solutions, and why modern technology, in the presence of continued economic growth, does not promote sustainability but instead hastens collapse. The authors explore the reasons for the uncritical acceptance of new technologies; show that technological optimism is based on ignorance and that increasing consumerism and materialism, which have been facilitated by science and technology, have failed to increase happiness. The common belief that technological change is inevitable is questioned, the myth of the value-neutrality of technology is exposed and the ethics of the technological imperative: “what can be done should be done” is challenged. Techno-Fix asserts that science and technology, as currently practiced, cannot solve the many serious problems we face and that a paradigm shift is needed to reorient science and technology in a more socially responsible and environmentally sustainable direction. The readers of Techno-Fix will learn a number of inconvenient truths about science and technology, topics that are rarely, if ever, covered in the media or discussed among professionals. Readers will be challenged to re-examine their current worldview, their paradigms and assumptions about the so-called promises of modern technology. But they will also feel empowered and inspired by the fact that most problems confronting humanity have inherently simple, low-tech solutions. The authors of Techno-Fix, both Ph.D.s, have decades of experience in science and engineering, and deliver a highly readable, insightful and powerful critique of modern technology. Techno-Fix has been endorsed by Richard Heinberg, Bill McKibben, David Suzuki, William Rees, and other notables in the environmental and academic community.

Full Product Details

Author:   Michael Huesemann, Ph.D. ,  Joyce Huesemann
Publisher:   New Society Publishers
Imprint:   New Society Publishers
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.738kg
ISBN:  

9780865717046

ISBN 10:   0865717044
Pages:   464
Publication Date:   01 September 2011
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Introduction; The Inherent Unavoidability & Unpredictability of Unintended Consequences; When Things Bite Back: Some Unintended Consequences of Modern Technology; Technology, Exploitation & Fairness; In Search of Solutions I: Counter-Technologies & Social Fixes; In Search of Solutions II: Efficiency Improvements; Sustainability of Collapse?; Technological Optimism & Belief in Progress; The Positive Biases of Technology Assessments & Cost-Benefit Analyses; Happiness; The Uncritical Acceptance of New Technologies; Profit Motive: The Main Driver of Technological Development; The Need for a Different Worldview; The Design of Environmentally Sustainable & Socially Appropriate Technologies; Critical Science & Social Responsibility; Index.

Reviews

<br> Science and technology have advanced impressively and have promised much over the past century, but as this book shows, it is suicidal to put our hopes in such promises. &#8212David Suzuki, author of The Legacy and The Sacred Balance <br>

Science and technology have advanced impressively over the past century but we have learned that often the benefits of new technology are accompanied by unexpected and deleterious consequences that we then attempt to solve using more technology with unpredictable effects. Thus, for example, we have altered the chemistry of the atmosphere with our use of fossil fuels and now hope that we can maintain our life styles, economies and consumption with the promise of geoengineering like carbon capture and storage, stimulating ocean algal growth, or spraying aerosols of sulfur dioxide in the sky. As this book shows, it is suicidal to put our hopes in such promises. <br>DAVID SUZUKI Canadian environmental activist, professor emeritus, University of British Columbia, host of CBC's The Nature of Things, author of 43 books, recipient of 25 honorary doctorates as well as numerous awards, including the Order of Canada. <br> We need to be mature enough to understand that technology alone won't b

Science and technology have advanced impressively over the past century but we have learned that often the benefits of new technology are accompanied by unexpected and deleterious consequences that we then attempt to solve using more technology with unpredictable effects. Thus, for example, we have altered the chemistry of the atmosphere with our use of fossil fuels and now hope that we can maintain our life styles, economies and consumption with the promise of geoengineering like carbon capture and storage, stimulating ocean algal growth, or spraying aerosols of sulfur dioxide in the sky. As this book shows, it is suicidal to put our hopes in such promises. DAVID SUZUKI Canadian environmental activist, professor emeritus, University of British Columbia, host of CBC's The Nature of Things, author of 43 books, recipient of 25 honorary doctorates as well as numerous awards, including the Order of Canada. We need to be mature enough to understand that technology alone won't be our salvation. This book helps explain why we need to think more deeply than that. BILL MCKIBBEN Journalist, environmental activist, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, author of many influential books and articles, including The End of Nature and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. Technology has become our near-universal object of faith: new machines (whether solar panels or iPads) will solve all our problems! Few of us seem to understand that machines have in fact exacerbated most of our current environmental and social problems, and it is people who must provide the answers. It is our appetites and economic arrangements--not our gadgets--that must change if we are to survive. Michael and Joyce Huesemann argue this controversial thesis clearly, convincingly, and entertainingly. Their book deserves to be read and discussed in every home, school, and legislature. RICHARD HEINBERG American journalist, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Ins

<br> Science and technology have advanced impressively and have promised much over the past century, but as this book shows, it is suicidal to put our hopes in such promises. --David Suzuki, author of The Legacy and The Sacred Balance <br> We need to be mature enough to understand that technology alone won't be our salvation. This book helps explain why we need to think more deeply than that. <br>&#8212 BILL MCKIBBEN Journalist, environmental activist, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, author of many influential books and articles, including The End of Nature and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. <br> In Techno-Fix, Michael and Joyce Huesemann show us how unsustainable<br>and destructive technologies, shaped and driven by the profit motive, have emerged as a major cause of harm to the health of people and the earth. We need to go beyond a blind Techno-religion. We ourselves need to choose the tools that shape our lives. A vibrant and vita

Science and technology have advanced impressively over the past century but we have learned that often the benefits of new technology are accompanied by unexpected and deleterious consequences that we then attempt to solve using more technology with unpredictable effects. Thus, for example, we have altered the chemistry of the atmosphere with our use of fossil fuels and now hope that we can maintain our life styles, economies and consumption with the promise of geoengineering like carbon capture and storage, stimulating ocean algal growth, or spraying aerosols of sulfur dioxide in the sky. As this book shows, it is suicidal to put our hopes in such promises. <br>DAVID SUZUKI Canadian environmental activist, professor emeritus, University of British Columbia, host of CBC's The Nature of Things, author of 43 books, recipient of 25 honorary doctorates as well as numerous awards, including the Order of Canada. <br> We need to be mature enough to understand that technology alone won't be our salvation. This book helps explain why we need to think more deeply than that. <br>BILL MCKIBBEN Journalist, environmental activist, Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, author of many influential books and articles, including The End of Nature and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. <br> Technology has become our near-universal object of faith: new machines (whether solar panels or iPads) will solve all our problems! Few of us seem to understand that machines have in fact exacerbated most of our current environmental and social problems, and it is people who must provide the answers. It is our appetites and economic arrangements--not our gadgets--that must change if we are to survive. Michael and Joyce Huesemann argue this controversial thesis clearly, convincingly, and entertainingly. Their book deserves to be read and discussed in every home, school, and legislature. <br>RICHARD HEINBERG American journalist, Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Ins

Author Information

Michael Huesemann, PhD is a research scientist with a special interest in sustainability and critical science. He has specialized in environmental biotechnology for more than 25 years. Joyce Huesemann, PhD is an activist and academic who has taught at several universities and participates in environmental, wildlife protection and companion-animal organizations.

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