[JasonHam]

Hey guys or should I say wannabe poets.

3 VWs for under 17,000.....wooohhhh!!!!!!!

go ahead, walk away and put the sign in the trash you crazy nutcases. Thats how the rest of the world looks at you. They think of you as that crazy cook in the streets walking around with a "End is Near" sign.

Actually , there is a portion of the peak oil crowd that has a "cult" feeling to it. Your attitude hinders the serious discussion and education that needs to take place about Alternative Energy and Climate Change.

I dont disagree that peak oil/climate change/US Economy/Over Consumption/Over Population/Globalization is a problem that COULD and WILL cause great disruption to Western Civilization. IF, we cant come up with solutions. I happen to think there is evidence in history and by analyzing events to think there is a pretty good chance that Western Civilaztion will survive and progress.

Keep drinking that kool aid and buying those books that claim the end of the world is here. Whether it be Peak oil, economy, climate change etc etc.....something is going to get us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! maybe the boogie man!!!

[JasonHam]

We should probably move this thread to the Psychology section.

[Aaron]

"Only in a world where everything is patently being lost can a priest stir men's hearts as a poet would by maintaining that nothing is in vain." Chapter 11, pg. 159

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', ' ')Everyone wants something for nothing.

[CrudeAwakening]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Madpaddy', ' ')Everyone wants something for nothing.

[Cabrone]

Jason

It's good to be optimistic and who knows, maybe nanotechnology could do something decent given enough time. But that is the problem. We simply don't have that luxury of that time.

Peak oil is a starter, a mere bagatelle which leads us to the main event, planetary extinction at the hands of global warming.

By the time the oil seriously declines in a decade or two's time (maybe even earlier) it's looking highly likely that we will have put in place enough CO2 in the atmosphere to start a chain reaction of positive feedbacks that are going to turn cuddly old earth into a baked hell hole.

We could give ourselves a reasonable(ish) chance of escaping the oven if we started to reverse our emissions now but I see absolutely no evidence of this whatsoever. En masse we just haven't got it.

If you want to really do something to try and stop this cut your carbon emissions ASAP and vote for whichever political representative seems to understand the crisis that we are in.

Nanotechnology is up there along with energy from the moon, interesting idea but impractical in the timescales being looked at.

Best of luck to you.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cabrone', 'W')e could give ourselves a reasonable(ish) chance of escaping the oven if we started to reverse our emissions now but I see absolutely no evidence of this whatsoever. En masse we just haven't got it.

[JasonHam]

You guys may very well be right. Although predicting what the world is going to be like in 20-30 years is a hard thing to pull off. Has anybody ever done it with any amount of success? ummmm

I dont know much about nano or any other alt energy source. I am a student of history and I do beleive that the Human species is just getting started. The human Genome, The Human Brain, Nano, AI, the ocean, space, Dark Matter, Molecular biology etc etc etc..

Here is a guy turining garbage into clean energy

www.popsci.com/popsci/science/873aae7bf ... drcrd.html

I feel like the human race is just getting started. Ironically, its Oil, that has allowed that to happen. Instead of time being used for the struggle to stay alive, food is abundant and easy. People spend more time studying than "working on the farm".

Im not saying things wont get bad for alot of people, especially in the united states. In order for there to be a good, there must be a bad or a lesser degree of good. But the advances were going to witness in the next 20-40 years will be as dramatic or more dramatic as they have been in the last 20-40 years.

At some point, i think the average joe in america won't have a car, but, he won't need one. His fancy techno-centric built condo is where he will work. Get up out of bed, connect to a virtual meeting via the internet. Everything you need will be delivered. Thats the only way you'll be able to drive in the future, if your transporting something important. Doctors, will come to you. Food, will delivered to you. People will be forced to live in tighter communities. Children may be schooled at home, again, via the interent(maybe 2-3 days a week). I think in a way, peak oil/climate change/overconsumption will Force a better way of life.


You know how happy I would be if I didnt have to commute 45 minutes each way.

[Cabrone]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')m not saying things wont get bad for alot of people

[JasonHam]

Cabrone: And that is the big unknown. I've been reading about this alot as of late. PO,Energy Crisis, Climate Change,Dollar Collapse/OverConsumption/Geopolictical Manuevering/Bird Flu....ect etc etc. I know Bird Flu doesnt fit, but what the hell.

The million dollar question is this:

Does humanity have enough time to deal with the affect(effects?) of Globalization. To me, thats the heart of the problem. That and overpopulation which is responsisble for overconsumption. No one can answer that question. The world and society has changed and is changing at a lightning pace. Instead of bird flu killing a few million in a particular part of the world, with globalization, it now kills billion in every part of the world, at a lightning pace. Same with the economy. We truly are dependent on one another now. US/UK can't go to war with China and vice vera. We need them, they need us. Same for India, Japan and even the sneaky russians. We all need each other to prosper. But, Im off subject.

Does humantiy have enough time to deal with the serious challenges created by Globalization and overconsumption? Id be inclined to think that it will at the very least try. Its never as bad as you think and never as good as you think. There will be some pain, especially here in the US. We just havent been very smart. Millions upon Millions depend on cheap fuel. Suburbia is nice, right now, but if gas got to 7, 8 dollars a gallon, it would be hell here in the states.

[Cabrone]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')oes humanity have enough time to deal with the affect(effects?) of Globalization

[JasonHam]

The brits are just like americans, they just hide it better.

[jbeckton]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('JasonHam', ' ') Anything that isnt doom and gloom is stupid and misinformed to you quacks.

[JasonHam]

I agree jbeckton.

I dont know much about nano, I'm just getting started on that subject. If it ever reaches its full potential, the world will change in ways we can't even imagine. Its an interesting subject.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jbeckton', '
')Many of the things we now take for granted were once starry-eyed tech misappropriations in the minds of most.

Mathematics
Physics
Medicine
Astronomy
Electricity
Telecommunication
Radar
GPS
DNA
Fission
Supersonic jets
Space travel
Computers
Internet

...The list is infinite

You can argue that we don't always do good things with technology but you cannot argue that it doesn't exist. Focus your anger in the misappropriation of technology if you must, but not on its feasibility because in the end you will look like the ignorant simpleton that insisted the world was flat.

[jbeckton]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', '
')Whether nanotech is feasible or not is irrelevant. As are its technical details.

[jbeckton]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '
')
But then you read down jbectons's list and you see a pattern and then the problem. A lot of these gadgets doe have useful application but on the whole they have contributed nothing to the pressing problems facing mankind.