MORE and MORE and MORE: An All-Consuming History of Energy by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz challenges the widely accepted idea of an “energy transition.” Rather than societies moving from one dominant energy source to another, Fressoz argues that modern history is characterised by the accumulation and interdependence of energy systems. Wood, coal, oil, and other resources have not replaced one another but have expanded together in increasingly complex forms of industrial and technological symbiosis. Through historical analysis, the book demonstrates how deeply fossil fuels remain embedded in global infrastructure, manufacturing, transport, and economic growth, raising serious questions about the feasibility of a rapid transition to a decarbonised future.
In his accompanying anthropo-psychoanalytic reflection, Luc Magnenat explores the emotional and unconscious implications of Fressoz’s arguments. He suggests that the enduring belief in an inevitable energy transition may function as a collective defence against confronting the scale of the environmental crisis and humanity’s dependence on extractive systems. The review considers how psychoanalysis can contribute to understanding denial, anxiety, grief, and adaptation in the Anthropocene, while reflecting on the challenge of sustaining thought and human coexistence in a rapidly changing world.