No, us Earth dwellers are not at risk of running out of resources

published Oct 16, 2011, last modified Jun 26, 2013

One word: Sun.

Voluntary human activity (ultimately sustained by Earth resources) adds value to whatever is extracted from Earth. Whoever disagrees with this must ultimately agree with the proposition than a fruit freshly picked off a tree has more value than the same fruit turned into a fruit cake, or that a shapeless lump of metal is equally as driveable and useful as a motorcycle is. We'll just leave those clearly false propositions fall under their own weight.

As for the fears that "Earth will run out of resources", that proposition is based on the Daddy Model of Wealth (think "allowance" and you'll get the concept). This proposition is false and easily refutable. Earth is not a closed system.

Whoever tells you "Earth is a closed system" or any proposition ultimately dependent on that idea, completely forgets about the Sun. The Sun inputs more energy in the Earth system than we know what to do with. Everything that we do today -- and that we will do tomorrow -- is ultimately dependent from the input given by the Sun.

In theory (and very soon in practice), we will be able to harness all that energy with mechanisms more sophisticated and efficient than plant-based energy converters (trees / algae) and biological / geological side effects.