DOOMSDAY, THE INTERNET, DIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

In 1960 Heinz von Foerster challenged the prevailing Malthusian models of human population growth. He advanced the view that mankind's abili ty to solve the problems associated with the world's growing populatio n would stay well ahead of the growth in that population. Thus a world which was formerly projected to-be threatened by growing resource sho rtages was projected to be threatened by a lack of physical space in w hich to enjoy an abundance. The paper which follows revisits the work and affirms its importance to an understanding of the current debate o n sustainability. The-passing years have done much to accentuate the i mportance of von Foerster's insights. The coalitions of the Internet a re seen as a further evolution of the communication coalitions which u nderlie his view of the population problem.