I pose a serious question: Is this paper – abstract below – a spoof?
I sincerely hope that it’s a spoof, as I don’t want to believe that the economics profession has fallen so far as to have some of its members produce such nonsense. But I fear that this paper is real – that is, offered by the author seriously. (I thank Roger Meiners for alerting me to this bit of ‘research.’)
ABSTRACT: This paper presents two key points. First, nature does not need humans, but not vice versa. Second, humankind currently violates the asymmetrical value relationship between people and nature. Regrettably, it seems that economists who play an important role in devising policies have a misconception of the true value of nature/environment, which leads to their neglect and recklessness when allocating and consuming resources/environmental capital. In light of mindsponenvironment, a subset of mindsponge theory and mindspongeconomics (a new economics), nature serves not only as sources of life but also as valuable information for knowledge and innovation formation. From this view, if humans (particularly economists) learn more from nature with humility, humankind would have a greater opportunity to solve environmental issues and make our world better.
