Joseph A. Tainter
force change cause effect
"Herbert Spencer observed that, 'Every active force produces more than one change—every cause produces more than one effect'. "
—Joseph A. Tainter
state ctizen legitimise
"As Renfrew noted in regard to early states, 'The specific state is legitimised in the eyes of its citizens by the existence of other states which patently do function along similar lines' "
—Joseph A. Tainter
complexity cost increase
"Every increase of complexity has a cost."
—Joseph A. Tainter
complexity cost energy labor time money grow control regulate
"The cost of supporting complexity is the energy, labor, time, or money needed to create, maintain, and replace a system that grows to have more and more parts and transactions, to support specialists, to regulate behavior so that the parts of a system all work harmoniously, and to produce and control information."
—Joseph A. Tainter
society complex consume energy labor time money
"No society can become more complex without increasing its consumption of high-quality energy, human labor, time, or money."
—Joseph A. Tainter
complexity paradox problem solving short run long term
"Complexity is a long-term paradox of problem solving. It facilitates the resolution of problems in the short run while undermining the ability to solve them in the long term."
—Joseph A. Tainter
society evolution complexity problem-solving decline return
“in the evolution of a society, continued investment in complexity as a problem-solving strategy yields a declining marginal return.”
—Joseph A. Tainter
problem solving comlexity catastrophic result
“Happily, solving problems by intensifying production and increasing complexity does not always yield catastrophic results.”
—Joseph A. Tainter