# The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows et al.

5 Hacker News commenters recommended The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows et al. and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People say its nuanced analysis of growth limits has aged well and matches later data; the one caveat raised is that it extrapolates from aggregate statistics.

## Why people recommend it

- Predictions have held up well (3 comments): "Nothing has failed and their nuanced commentary on the complexity of the issue has only aged well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45795873)) "FWIU the Limits to Growth report is more accurate than the Global 2000 report" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48043192)) "world3 has be shown to be quite descriptive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48000674))

## What people warn about

- Some readers strongly disliked it (1 comments): "other folks really did not like that report" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47524598))
- Seen as confirming worst-case doom (1 comments): "each time in so doing effectively confirming their worst-case hypotheses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47399615))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=The+Limits+to+Growth+by+Meadows+et+al.&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows et al.", https://hackerapproved.com/p/limits-to-growth/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).