The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet

Egypt-born and Seattle-based Naam (winner of the H.G. Wells Award for More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement) is confident that the world's most abundant resource—human innovation—is capable of overcoming poverty, inequality, climate change, and other challenges facing a world dependent on a number of resources such as oil, farmed food, fresh water, and clean air, to name a few. Even as resources are depleting, Naam is optimistic that they are only temporarily limited and may become abundant and their lack may be addressed by taking advantage of innovation. He illustrates the historical evidence for his positive outlook: scientists have increased global life expectancy by 20 years in the past century; food production has risen at a rate greater than population growth since the 1960s; more than twice as many people have electricity in their homes than did in the 1970s. For Naam, progress is a result of applying the innovative power of the human mind, and the problems that seem great and insurmountable may be solved if people live up to their potential.