We live in a commercialized world where “more” is highly rated.  Consumers seek to maximize their satisfaction by acquiring more with less sacrifice. “More” almost always means abundance,  and abundance is the source of satisfaction and happiness. This tendency goes against the gloomy fact that we are overshooting Earth’s finite resources, especially now that the world’s population is headed towards 90 billion.

Nonetheless, we still live with the assumption that the world can become even more abundant as we thrive and as technology advances.  At least our economic theory believes so.

Although there is no doubt that it’s wise to start using less resources before we completely deplete them, it is extremely hard to convince ourselves that it is the way to go. We are too used to pursue “more.” “Less” does not sound promising, because it’s almost automatically linked to deteriorated abundance and satisfaction.  We don’t want to give up abundance, nor be dissatisfied.

But a fundamental question remains unanswered.

Is “more” really equal to abundance?  Does “more” always increased customer satisfaction?

Is “less” really the opposite of abundance?  Is “less” a culprit of decreased satisfaction?

Would it be possible that “less” can bring more abundance and satisfaction? If so, can we make our society happier with less?

To answer this question, we will start the journey to explore the power of “zero,” the ultimate form of  “less.”