Donella Meadows

world model

“Everything we think we know about the world is a model. Our models do have a strong congruence with the world. Our models fall far short of representing the real world fully.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

GNP society goal welfare, equity justice GDP

“If you define the goal of a society as GNP, that society will do its best to produce GNP. It will not produce welfare, equity, justice, or efficiency unless you define a goal and regularly measure and report the state of welfare, equity, justice, or efficiency.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

system muddy information crazy

“You can drive a system crazy by muddying its information streams.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

purpose behavior rhetoric claim talk

“Purposes are deduced from behavior, not from rhetoric or stated goals.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

model knowledge challenge assumption

“Remember, always, that everything you know, and everything everyone knows, is only a model. Get your model out there where it can be viewed. Invite others to challenge your assumptions and add their own.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

vision values clarity implementation

"A vision should be judged by the clarity of its values, not the clarity of its implementation path."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

first commandment economics grow earth enough

"The first commandment of economics is: Grow. Grow forever. Companies get bigger. National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more - ever more.

The first commandment of the Earth is: enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water. Just so much sunshine. Everything born of the Earth grows to its appropriate size and then stops."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

system separate world continuum boundary purpose discussion

"There are no separate systems. The world is a continuum. Where to draw a boundary around a system depends on the purpose of the discussion."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

world complex interconnected finite sosial

"The world is a complex, interconnected, finite, ecological - social - psychological - economic system. We treat it as if it were not, as if it were divisible, separable, simple, and infinite. Our persistent, intractable global problems arise directly from this mismatch."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

scarcest resource oil, metal air, technology willingness listen

"The scarcest resource is not oil, metals, clean air, capital, labour, or technology. It is our willingness to listen to each other and learn from each other and to seek the truth rather than seek to be right."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

speak the truth power material accumulation growth human exist

“Speak the truth.

Speak it loud and often, calmly but insistently,

and speak it, as the Quakers say, to power.

Material accumulation is not the purpose of human existence.

All growth is not good.

The environment is a necessity, not a luxury.

There is such a thing as enough.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

computer model destroy exploit cooperate

“We do not need a computer model to tell us that:

• we must not destroy the system upon which our sustenance depends.

• poverty is wrong and preventable.

• the exploitation of one person or nation by another degrades both the exploited and the exploiter.

• it is better for individuals and nations to cooperate than to fight.

• the love we have for all humankind and for future generations should be the same as our love for those close to us.

If we do not embrace these principles and live by them, our system cannot survive. Our future is in our hands and will be no better or worse than we make it.

These messages have been around for centuries.

They reemerge periodically in different forms and now in the outputs of global models. Anything that persists for so long and comes from such diverse sources as gurus and input-output matrices must be coming very close to truth.

We all know the truth at some deep level within ourselves.

We have only to look honestly and deeply to find it.

And yet we don’t live as if we knew it."

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)

human being happiness harmony nature economy

“If we human beings are ever going to live in happiness and harmony with each other and with the natural world, we will have to rethink our economics — starting with downgrading the importance of economics in our thinking.”

—Donella Meadows (1941-2001)