The Infinite Resource

So, I read a blurb about this book on the net, and I decided to read it. The Infinite Resource by Ramez Naam is non-fiction.   Naam is a very smart guy, who likely made a fortune when he was a top software developer at Microsoft. 

Ramez Naam is also the author of two science fiction novels,  Nexus and Crux,  both of which I have read and reported on in this blog.  The way this happened is, I got a copy of The Infinite Resource, started to read it, then learned about Nexus and Crux.  So, I set aside The Infinite Resource while I read both of Naam's science fiction offerings.  All that happened in the last few weeks because Naam's writing is very engaging.  I've already reviewed the two science fiction novels in earlier blogs. This one is focused on The Infinite Resource.

What one is struck by first is the intellectual rigor of The Infinite Resource. I've read a lot of non-fiction focused on the science, economics, and politics of the greatest challenges we face as a global  civilization in the 21st millennium. Many of these books paint a very gloomy picture of the mess we humans have made of things. 

Ramez Naam's assessment of the current state of humanity and the Earth does not pull any punches. He presents climate change, resource depletion, our dangerous dependence on fossil forms of energy, and other global scale challenges in very sobering terms. Overall, however, the tone of The Infinite Resource is optimistic. Naam is definitely a guy who sees the glass half full.

Using clear and credible examples of civilization scale challenges that we've already confronted successfully, Naam effectively makes the case that the resources,  the ability, and the will to develop worthy answers to our problems already exist.  I don't agree with everything he says, but on most things, we're on the same page. Naam's arguments about nuclear power and genetically modified foods were persuasive enough to moderate my previously held views, particularly in the area of food security.  I'm still a serious skeptic on nuclear power, but my mind is a bit more open. Naam makes a compelling case for a continuing role for nuclear power, particularly for new forms of fission power that can digest radioactive waste materials generated by older nuclear plants and turn them into a form that is far less deadly over the long term.

In the last chapter of The Infinite Resource,  Ramez Naam offers four takeaways for action we, as global citizens, must pursue if we are going to solve our greatest challenges. 

1. Fix our markets to properly account for the value of the commons
2. Invest in R&D to fund long-range innovation
3. Embrace the technologies that stand poised to improve lives while bettering our planet, even when these ideas seem alien
4. Empower each of the billions of minds on this planet, to turn them into assets that can produce new ideas that benefit all of us

I like Naam's takeaways. If we followed his prescription, things would surely start to look a whole lot better.

The Infinite Resource is engagingly written and, by all appearances, impeccably researched.  It's an unambiguous warning, punctuated with hope and reassurance. I do wish the book had gone a bit further in identifying a course of action.  But I understand why it didn't.  Naam's target audience is not people like me, who are already with him. This book was written for the persuadable 40% of Americans who remain on the fence but are aware enough to know that humanity is in need of a serious course adjustment.

 Five Stars for Ramez Naam's book, The Infinite Resource.