Scarcity to Abundance

Name: Scarcity to Abundance
Rating: 4.5 (83 reviews)

Shifting your thinking about consuming, ecology, economics and choices

Created byKarim Benammar, Ph.D.

Last updated 2/2025

English

What you'll learn

Understanding the global paradigm shift that humanity is undergoing
How to shift from Scarcity thinking to Abundance thinking
Understanding how our economic system is based on a scarcity mindset
Explore technological solutions for ecological problems
How to make choices when you have endless possibilities
Understand the context and solutions to address Climate Change

Course content

6 sections • 27 lectures • 1h 34m total length

The course in one minute: from scarcity to abundance1:20
One-minute overview.
Scarcity and Abundance1:27
A first look at our two key concepts.
Core concepts and arguments: TV talk on Scarcity and Abundance 201812:50
This recording of a live television talk explores the main concepts in 12 minutes. You can decide to skip it, or to watch it at the end as a summary. All these concepts are explored in more detail in the other lectures.
Climate positivism3:56
Climate positivism: applying the principles of abundance to the current ecological crisis. An overview of key notions.

The scarcity paradigm2:32
What do we mean by Scarcity? Our definition of scarcity as a relationship between what we have and what we need.
Consumption and scarcity1:45
The mystery of the consumer society: how consumption is related to scarcity.
Symbolic consumption3:42
Most of our consumption is symbolic, and all of our consumption is partially symbolic. What does that mean, and what are the consequences?
Mimetic desire2:50
Mimetic desire explains why we want what other people have. A striking and at first counter-intuitive theory by the thinker René Girard.
The scarcity frame1:45
Our definition of what it means to be thinking from a frame of Scarcity.

Abundance in ecology2:33
Why Abundance is crucial to the ecological health of the Planet.
Circularity2:50
We need to consume differently, rather than focus on consuming less. Different approaches of circularity are the key way to do this.
Drawdown2:04
How thinking from Abundance will help us to deal with Global Warming: Paul Hawken's "Drawdown" project.
Virtuous circles2:02
Abundance is all about surfing and creating virtuous circles.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice1:52
The tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice recounts humankind's relation to technology and gives us a fascinating insight into the promise and pitfalls of geo-engineering
Climate Positivity23:07
This lkecture examines the global situation of Climate Change, what the accepted data is, and what we can do about it, not just as an individual with oour own behaviour, but as professionals and organisations.

Abundant choice5:40
How do you choose well in a world of endless choice and possibility? Here are two key strategies to help you make great choices that you won't regret. It's also a great antidote to FOMO.
Learning to be rich2:11
How thinking form a frame of Abundance is a key element of being truly rich (and why lots of other approaches don't work).
From taking to giving1:34
Re-imagining your life as giving rather than taking: it feels great.
Spending your life1:40
Your life is energy expending itself in time. How will you spend it?

Requirements

Bring a curious and open mind

Description

Life is abundant, but we are stuck in a scarcity frame. The history of humanity is one of a struggle against lethal obstacles: hunger, disease, war, poverty. These characterize a world of scarcity, in which our main goal is to survive. Once we have overcome this situation through technological and economic development, and we have solved the problem of hunger, disease, war and poverty to achieve a life of health, wealth, peace and freedom, we are faced with a different challenge - we are faced with a situation of abundance.

When we think and act from a frame of scarcity, we use the wrong strategies to deal with global challenges such as our ecological and economic crises. In this course, we will explore how to approach these challenges from an abundance frame, and what an economics of abundance would look like.

In our private lives, we are also confronted with an abundance of choices and possibilities. I outline two strategies to help us enjoy this abundance instead of being overwhelmed by it. What would it be like to experience our lives as giving rather than taking? What does it take to feel truly rich?

By exploring these clearly presented topics, you will learn to give shape to your individual life, as well as to our global, communal future, from a frame of abundance.

I have spent more than twenty years thinking and writing about scarcity and abundance, and hope these key concepts and insights will help you.

Who this course is for:

interested in understanding our world
interested in shifting their perspective
interested in global economic and distribution questions

Scarcity to Abundance

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction4 lectures • 20min

Scarcity5 lectures • 13min

Abundance4 lectures • 9min

Scarcity and Abundance in Ecology6 lectures • 34min

Scarcity and Abundance in Economics4 lectures • 8min

Living in Abundance4 lectures • 11min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: