Limits to Growth

Limits to Growth shows us how exponential growth eventually encounters constraints, leading to overshoot and collapse. This archetype is essential for understanding sustainability, resource management, and why systems can't grow indefinitely.

Examples of Limits to Growth

Human Population on Planet Earth

Humans on Earth

Bacterial colonies

Bacterial Colonies

Moore's Law

AI Capabilities

Large Language Models

Business Expansion

Computer Gaming Skills

Intensive Agriculture

Social Media

Other Examples

Here's a comprehensive list of "Limits to Growth" archetype examples across different domains:

Technology & Digital Systems

Cryptocurrency mining - Energy consumption and computational limits
Internet bandwidth growth - Physical infrastructure and spectrum constraints
Social media platform expansion - Attention economy and user engagement limits
Smartphone battery life - Chemical energy storage density limits
Cloud computing growth - Data center energy and cooling constraints
Video game graphics improvement - Hardware performance and development cost limits
App store ecosystems - Market saturation and discovery limits

Biological & Medical Systems

Antibiotic effectiveness - Bacterial resistance evolution
Human lifespan extension - Cellular aging and biological repair limits
Intensive agriculture - Soil depletion and ecosystem degradation
Fish farming/aquaculture - Disease, pollution, and feed conversion limits
Organ transplantation - Donor availability and immune rejection constraints
Performance-enhancing drugs - Physiological limits and health consequences

Urban & Infrastructure Systems

City traffic congestion - Road capacity and commuting time limits
Urban sprawl - Land availability and infrastructure cost constraints
Housing development - Zoning, environmental, and affordability limits
Public transit expansion - Funding, geography, and ridership constraints
Waste management systems - Landfill capacity and environmental limits

Economic & Business Systems

Fast fashion industry - Environmental impact and labor exploitation limits
Gig economy expansion - Worker classification and market saturation
Subscription service proliferation - Consumer budget and attention limits
Tourism industry growth - Destination carrying capacity and environmental impact
Credit expansion cycles - Debt sustainability and economic bubble formation

Environmental & Resource Systems

Fossil fuel extraction - Easily accessible reserves depletion
Groundwater pumping - Aquifer recharge rate limits
Forest harvesting - Regeneration capacity and biodiversity loss
Rare earth mining - Geographic concentration and environmental costs
Commercial fishing - Ocean ecosystem collapse and overfishing

Higher education expansion - Credential inflation and employment mismatch
Professional sports performance - Human physiological and safety limits
Entertainment content production - Audience attention and quality dilution
Social movement mobilization - Activist burnout and message dilution
Political campaign spending - Diminishing returns on voter persuasion

Financial & Investment Systems

Stock market bubbles - Valuation disconnection from fundamentals
Real estate speculation - Affordability and economic sustainability limits
Venture capital scaling - Quality deal scarcity and return expectations
Pension fund growth - Demographic shifts and return assumptions

Scientific & Research Systems

Academic publication growth - Peer review capacity and quality control
Research funding competition - Government budget and grant success rates
Clinical trial expansion - Patient recruitment and safety constraints
Space exploration scaling - Launch costs and technical complexity

Personal & Lifestyle Systems

Fitness and bodybuilding - Genetic potential and injury risk limits
Career advancement pursuit - Organizational hierarchy and work-life balance
Social networking expansion - Dunbar's number and relationship quality
Skill acquisition - Time constraints and cognitive capacity limits

Each of these examples follows the same basic pattern: 1. Initial success creates confidence in unlimited growth potential 2. Reinforcing loops drive accelerating expansion 3. Hidden constraints gradually emerge and intensify 4. Diminishing returns appear despite increased effort/investment 5. System limits force transition to new approaches or face collapse

Sample Prompt

Prompt

Please generate a new JSON file for the causal loop diagram for the "Limits to Growth" archetype. Use the structure in the cld-schema.json to generate the JSON file.

Overall Layout: The diagram has two loops placed side-by side with shared shared node labeled "Condition" in the center shared by both the loops. There is a single node to the far upper right called "Limiting Condition".

Center Description: The center of the causal loop diagram has a node called "Condition".
It is placed at (0,0) on the canvas.

Left Loop: The name of the left loop is called "Growth". It is a Reinforcing loop with two clockwise positive edges (CW). On the right of the Growth loop is the shared node labeled "Condition" at (0,0). On the left side of the Growth loop is the node labeled "Growing Action". Growth Action is located at (-200, 0). The Reinforcing loop symbol is located at (-100,0). Both edges in this loop are positive.

Right Loop: The name of the right loop is called "Slowing". It is a Reinforcing loop with two clockwise edges (CW). On the left of the Slowing loop is the shared node labeled "Condition" at (0,0). On the right of the Slowing loop is the shared node labeled "Slowing Action" at (200,0). The Balancing loop symbol is located at (100,0). The edge from "System Condition" to "lowing Action" is positive. The edge from "Slowing Action" to "System Condition" is negative. In the upper right corner is a node labeled "Limiting Condition" at (300, 100). "Limiting Condition" connects to the "Slowing" loop at the "Slowing Action" via a clockwise edge.

There are four total nodes in the diagram. There are five edges in the diagram. All of the edges are clockwise (CW). There are no counter-clockwise edges (CCW) in this diagram.