* in most of human history technological sophistication, social complexity and metabolic throughout rise (and sometimes fall )in tandem.
* other things equal, a dramatic reduction in metabolic Scale and social complexity will be associated with a lost of whole suites of technologies and systems…The vision of Transition style relocalization with the Internet seems, on the face of it, ludicrous.
* generally speaking! it is difficult to see how one could make modern wind turbines using power from only wind turbines
* all forms of complexity have what Odum calls a ‘transformity value’….ie the energy embodied not on,y in the artefact, but the entire production system…and the series of qualitative energy transformations required to produce the artefact.

Question: can 3d printing and Information/organization technologies (all that p2p stuff)…micro fabrication, reduce the transformity associated with, say, computer chips? if yes, then we can imagine a world of equal or greater technological sophistication associated with lower metabolic throughout and a more differentiated …lower in places…level of social complexity. The last point is complex because from a sociological point of view, kropotkinite/ young marx vision of polyvalent, multifunctional artisans…involves less social complexity in terms of the social division of labour, than the typically alienated, uber specialized…differentiation of paid roles that we take for granted in modern societies.

This really is a technical and empirical question that I don’t think can be prejudged. Ie. needs research. My gut feeling is that, as things stand, Greer is right. But if and when I can 3d print the significant bits of this IPAD …then it is game on, and Carson s vision starts to have legs. I have 4 kids and am not banking on this though