Obsolescencia y resiliencia

Abstract

According to the historical analysis, environmental effects of modern societies are due to the application of western science and technology to our systems of production, distribution and consumption –an special role played– by the rethoric of technological change as the ultimate driver of economical growth and social welfare. In this paper I am defending that planned obsolescence denies the supposition according to which the key of technological change lies on the never-ending improvement of our technologies by optimizing its efficiency. However, planned obsolescence can´t be reduced to a phenomenon belonging to
market, economy or tecnhnology. Decades of consumption of increasingly obsolescent technological improvements have fed our mental narcissim, transforming a culture close to necessities into a culture obsessed by desires. Given the environmental effects of this transfomation, we must retrieve socio-ecological knowhows and practices leading to more resilient and environmental
careful minds.