Kris De Decker: "Low Tech: What, Why and How"
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 555 Ratings
🗓️ 24 August 2022
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode, we meet with inventor, researcher and author Kris De Decker to understand the concept of "low tech" and its relevance in a high tech society and growth-driven economy.
How does low tech differ from high tech and what does it feel like to live a low tech lifestyle? Why do we assume high tech will always be the solution, and could low tech be a feasible path for a sustainable and fulfilling future?
De Decker shares his personal experiences as a low tech advocate and researcher in a high tech urban environment and how freedom from technology provides both challenges and unexpected benefits.
About Kris De Decker:
Kris De Decker shifted from a journalism career covering high tech to exploring low tech through formal and personal research and projects, including the Human Power Plant and the Solar Powered Website.
De Decker is creator and author of Low Tech Magazine and No Tech Magazine, publications which explore low tech solutions to questions society assumes must be solved through high tech.
De Decker has contributed articles about science, technology, energy and the environment to Mother Earth News, Techniques et Culture, Design Magazine, The Oil Drum, Resilience, EOS, Molenecho's, "Knack", "De Tijd" and "De Standaard". De Decker's books "Energie in 2030" advised the Dutch government on challenges related to science and technology and his book "Stralingswarmte: gezonde warmte met minder energie" provided a guide for how heat works.
De Decker was born in Antwerp, Belgium and lives in Barcelona, Spain. De Decker describes himself as "rather inactive" on Twitter and LinkedIn.
For Show Notes and Transcript visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episodes
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to The Great Simplification with Nate Higgins. |
| 0:06.0 | That's me. |
| 0:07.8 | On this show, we try to explore and simplify what's happening with energy, the economy, |
| 0:14.3 | the environment, and our society. |
| 0:17.6 | Together with scientists, experts, and leaders, this show is about understanding the bird's |
| 0:23.0 | eye view of how everything fits together, where we go from here and what we can do about |
| 0:28.6 | it as a society and as individuals. |
| 0:33.5 | Modern culture has a love affair with technology, But generally, we underappreciate how our |
| 0:40.0 | tech has co-evolved with ever-increasing energy scale. Today's guest is Chris De Decker, the creator |
| 0:48.3 | and author of Low Tech Magazine, the creator of No Tech Magazine, and the co-developer of the Human Energy Project. |
| 0:56.8 | Chris is from Belgium, currently living in Spain. |
| 1:00.2 | And in today's conversation, we discuss the difference between high tech and low tech |
| 1:05.7 | and what a lower energy and material future implies for technology use for most of humanity. |
| 1:13.5 | How to best use innovation and technology in a post-growth economy is a major topic. |
| 1:19.6 | So consider this an introduction to this important issue, which I hope you enjoy. |
| 1:25.0 | Please welcome Chris Decker. |
| 1:40.6 | Hello, Chris. |
| 1:43.0 | Hello, Nate. Nice to meet. |
| 1:44.5 | Yeah, nice to meet you. |
| 1:47.1 | I've known of your work for a long time. |
| 1:54.7 | You submitted some articles on low tech to the oil drum 10, 15 years ago when I oversaw that. |
| 1:57.4 | So let's just get right into it, Chris. |
... |
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