by benzoil » Sat 22 Jul 2006, 22:46:35
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('madmatt', '
')If I can prove to you that you would have to be GOD to understand the implications of PO on our economy, then I believe we may be able to take the first step towards a little understanding.
And by the way -
I should be getting paid for this shit ---- everyone else is!!!!!
Matt-
Your posts have been bothering me since last Thursday. I'm not sure what your ultimate goal is but I'd like to chat with you about systems. I've been a computer programmer, avid boardgame player and historian since childhood. I play boardgames so complex that they'd make most people's heads explode (Shout out to all you Advanced Squad Leader players out there). Literally, no one knows all the rules, their exceptions and the implications.
I simulate World War II without knowing the full complexities of Allied Supply routes. I write billing systems without knowing the full details of double entry accounting and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
In short: complex systems can be understood in principle without devoting several lifetimes to their study.
As a corollary, I can assure you that if one game rule or one subroutine malfunctions, then even a simple system can be ruined - altering who wins a game or whether someone is billed $2.00 or $200,000. I don't have to be an expert in Chaos Theory to know that problems reverbrate further than their own immediate boundaries.
At po.com (and even more at the theoildrum.com) you'll find alot of people who've looked into the systems that PO is likely to affect. The *possible* issues have scared the hell out of alot of people. Whether or not we choose to fix/address these issues beforehand is what may be the difference between a ho-hum New Year's Day on Jan 1, 2000 and a complete failure of the electrical grid. By your argument, I'd have to be God to understand the implications of peak oil. That should frighten you more than anything else.
You have taken the view that all these very smart people (you run with an elite crowd it appears) aren't worried about PO so we should also not be concerned. Many other people have looked at all the evidence and decided that they should be worried *because* none of those very smart people are concerned.
I could go on, and in fact, just deleted a couple of long paragraphs, but let me summarize: I don't need to know the exact point of failure in a complex system, only that complex systems are more likely to fail and that even small failures can have big effects.
Peak Oil won't be the end of the world or mankind or western civilization or iPods or alot of other things. Just like WWII, bubonic plague, the decline of Rome were not. But those things were world changing events worth planning for if you saw them coming. It might have been hard to foresee that bubonic plague would lead to the rise of guilds and the merchant class, which would lead to Spain's conquest of the Americas (or whatever tertiary issue you like), but you could deduce that it would change things...alot.
And as for getting paid for your work, why you? There's been tons of research done for free proving that peak oil will be a problem. I pay BP to tell me it won't be a problem every time I fill up my tank. I really hope you're serious about making a case and not just some pedantic troll. I think it's a worthwhile exercise to periodically review these things and would love to read what you have to say.