The idea of sustainability can imply there is one perfect, unchanging future, if only we could work out how to get there. Resilience might be more useful, in that it assumes a dynamic environment and that perfection is impossible. You need to design systems to accommodate failure rather than eliminate it. By trying to be perfect, many visions of sustainability are quite brittle
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of resilience over the pursuit of a perfect and static future in sustainability.
Jamais Cascio's quote challenges the conventional notion of sustainability by suggesting that aiming for a flawless state is often unrealistic and can lead to inflexibility. Instead, he advocates for resilience, which acknowledges the unpredictable nature of the world and encourages the development of systems that can adapt to failures. This perspective promotes a more pragmatic and effective approach to sustainability, recognizing that imperfection is inherent in life and that embracing this can lead to more robust solutions.
In practice
During a workshop on sustainable practices, this quote can be used to stimulate discussion on adapting to changes in environmental conditions.
Sustainability is a seemingly laudable goal - it tells us we need to live within our means, whether economic, ecological, or political - but it's insufficient for uncertain times. How can we live within our means when those very means can change, swiftly and unexpectedly, beneath us?
Trying to do what your competitors are doing but basically a little bit better is probably not going to be the winning strategy. The problem is finding what your competitors wouldn't even consider doing.
Being connected to the Internet means being vulnerable to coordinated actions that can knock down walls of secrecy and shatter mechanisms of control.
Lord, let me find my life in thee, and not in the mire of this world's favour or gain.
The widespread assumption is that somehow, the brain produces the mind; somehow millions of neurons fire signals at one another create or produce consciousness... but we have no idea how or why this happens. I'm afraid that in many cases, people in the tech world fail to understand that.
If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.
Life, like a child, laughs, shaking its rattle of death as it runs.
Death threatens our speech with futility because death is not just a biological event - it is a reality we fear may rob our living of any significance.
In the long term the most important question for a company is not what you are but what you are becoming.
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