Re: Collapse of complex societies
Yeah, but Pournelle's observation is somewhat akin to saying "We wouldn't have these problems if we just had enough money." Energy, like money, is not available in infinite supply, at least not when you need it. And no matter how much we have of either, we'll quickly figure out a way to need even more.
Tainter does allude to your "orders of magnitude" comment. With enough energy, solutions can be found to any problem. But the amount of energy required grows much faster than the problem which required it does. We may be thousands of times more complex than Rome, but we need millions of times more energy, in both total and per capita terms.