TY - JOUR
T1 - Earth system economics
T2 - A biophysical approach to the human component of the Earth system
AU - Galbraith, Eric D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright:
PY - 2021/5/27
Y1 - 2021/5/27
N2 - The study of humans has largely been carried out in isolation from the study of the non-human Earth system. This isolation has encouraged the development of incompatible philosophical, aspirational, and methodological approaches that have proven very difficult to integrate with those used for the non-human remainder of the Earth system. Here, an approach is laid out for the scientific study of the global human system that is intended to facilitate seamless integration with non-human processes by striving for a consistent physical basis, for which the name Earth system economics is proposed. The approach is typified by a foundation on state variables, central among which is the allocation of time amongst activities by human populations, and an orientation towards considering human experience. A framework is elaborated which parses the Earth system into six classes of state variables, including a neural structure class that underpins many essential features of humanity. A working example of the framework is then illustrated with a simple numerical model, considering a global population that is engaged in one of two waking activities: provisioning food or doing something else. The two activities are differentiated by their motivational factors, outcomes on state variables, and associated subjective experience. While the illustrative model is a gross simplification of reality, the results suggest how neural characteristics and subjective experience can emerge from model dynamics. The approach is intended to provide a flexible and widely applicable strategy for understanding the human-Earth system, appropriate for physically based assessments of the past and present, as well as contributing to long-Term model projections that are naturally oriented towards improving human well-being.
AB - The study of humans has largely been carried out in isolation from the study of the non-human Earth system. This isolation has encouraged the development of incompatible philosophical, aspirational, and methodological approaches that have proven very difficult to integrate with those used for the non-human remainder of the Earth system. Here, an approach is laid out for the scientific study of the global human system that is intended to facilitate seamless integration with non-human processes by striving for a consistent physical basis, for which the name Earth system economics is proposed. The approach is typified by a foundation on state variables, central among which is the allocation of time amongst activities by human populations, and an orientation towards considering human experience. A framework is elaborated which parses the Earth system into six classes of state variables, including a neural structure class that underpins many essential features of humanity. A working example of the framework is then illustrated with a simple numerical model, considering a global population that is engaged in one of two waking activities: provisioning food or doing something else. The two activities are differentiated by their motivational factors, outcomes on state variables, and associated subjective experience. While the illustrative model is a gross simplification of reality, the results suggest how neural characteristics and subjective experience can emerge from model dynamics. The approach is intended to provide a flexible and widely applicable strategy for understanding the human-Earth system, appropriate for physically based assessments of the past and present, as well as contributing to long-Term model projections that are naturally oriented towards improving human well-being.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106858293&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5194/esd-12-671-2021
DO - 10.5194/esd-12-671-2021
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106858293
SN - 2190-4979
VL - 12
JO - Earth System Dynamics
JF - Earth System Dynamics
IS - 2
ER -