A UNIFIED THEORY OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS & DESCENT (nonfiction)

This book proposes a unified theory of technological progress & descent, arguing that breakthroughs, from steam engines to AI, remain inert until paired with an energy substrate capable of sustaining them. History’s decisive transitions (agrarian → industrial, fossil → post-carbon) were not driven by invention alone, but by energy surpluses meeting critical EROI thresholds. The book examines:Novelty, Synergy, Transformation – Why some technologies scale (steam + coal) while others fail (Hero’s aeolipile) Collapse as Energy Descent – How Rome and Ming China unraveled when their energy substrates degradedFuture Dilemmas – Why AI, quantum computing, and fusion face thermodynamic limits in a declining-EROI worldBy integrating anthropology, complexity theory, and energy economics, this framework offers a lens for predicting which technologies will thrive—and which are doomed by energy realities. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: A UNIFIED THEORY OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS & DESCENT (nonfiction) — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠