ABSTRACT
At the end of the day, a critical question for any new practice, policy or world-view is: how do you measure success? This has been a confusing question in environmental studies, where villains can become heroes and heroes villains according to choices in system boundaries and human understanding of ecological conditions. DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), for example, is clearly harmful to flora and fauna, and yet some African nations have decided to continue its use as a deterrent for a human scourge: the spread of malaria. Nuclear power, anathema to environmental advocates, is being touted as worth a second look, in part because of the lack of greenhouse-gas emissions in this form of power generation. The analysis paralysis around even small issues-the ponderous debate summarised by the words ‘paper or plastic?’—illustrates the dearth of simple answers and the uncertainty of intuition.
