[eastbay]

Ok ok, in all seriousness, I've found out alot about my friends and family. NO ONE really sees it coming but me....

Specop, it's got me completely baffled too. Anyone with a basic understanding of grade school math should be able to figure this out, but they just can't seem to get a grasp on it.

I was wondering the other day why we're the ones who can see this Epic Catastrophic Event coming at us and others cannot. Here we are, a collection of such a wide variety of people united in our common understanding of this. I've spoken to friends who are quite wealthy. I've spoken to friends who are much smarter. They are all in universal agreement that oil will last for [s]eons[/s] one heck of a long time and that my understanding of PO places me in the tin foil hat club.

I wonder why us and not them? Why not everyone? Very interesting.

[roccman]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', '
')
I wonder why us and not them? Why not everyone? Very interesting.

[Aaron]

Great Thread folks...

I'm a life-long acoustic musician myself. Flute/Sax, Guitar, percussion, vocals, & most recently Bass Violin!

I am a big electric music fan as well... but my heart has always been in acoustic mode.

Nothing like raw acoustic sound and people singing harmony... nothing.

[eastbay]

Yeah, rocc, that might be one component in this mystery. Other than the Nightly Business Report, CNBC (starting at 6:30 pacific... heh) and local weather, I watch little tv.

But one would think that anyone who can subtract one from two will arrive at an answer of one. That simple calculation plus a basic command of a bell curve helped bring many of us here.

Others see the same information we read... yet they still doubt. I'm talking about 99% of people still doubt. It's absolutely amazing.

Two trillion bbls minus one trillion bbs = one trillion bbls. And 30 billion bbls per year x 33 years = one trillion bbls. How difficult is this anyhow??

Anyhow, many PO doubters certainly do get angry and upset. At times, REALLY angry and upset. Funny how a few subjects can do that to people. Not everyone, of course, but to some. PO is one of these topics, for sure.

[Waterthrush]

C'mon folks, it's not that hard to discover the reasoning behind others' denial of Peak Oil. Those reasons have been patiently debunked here too, but the arguments are much less obvious than the Hubberts' Peak bellcurve:

1. Technology - "Someone will think of something. They always do."
2. Deliberate lies by Big Oil - "There are lots of undeveloped fields out there. Political pressures are keeping us from finding them."
3. Lack of political leadership - "If things are that bad, don't you think we'd be hearing more about it from the government?"

Now, we all know there are answers to each of these - but they are NOT as simple as showing a bellcurve. And, in the face of these assertions, are you saying that you don't have a clue as to why people don't accept Peak Oil?

And until one or more of the above statements change in people's heads, we won't be very convincing. I am now fairly sure that it will be #1 - that we will be faced with ever increasing costs and "nobody knows what to do" will replace that statement. #2 and $3, the two seemingly easiest to address, will not, I think, change until later. I think #2 will change first, with Big Oil forced at some point to plead for government help in overcoming some obstacle, and then finally the political leadership will follow.

[Chesire]

I have given up on telling people and I have known about this for decades. If I had a dollar for every person that sincerely believes in one or more of the following. I would be really rich .

1. There is super secret power systems that run on thin air and water or gravity or fucking kitty litter being suppressed.

2. When the four horsemen come I will give a jaunty wave as I ascend into heaven and yell good luck you heathens.

3. America will unleash a bio weapon that kills everyone thats not a white blue eyed anglo saxon .

4. The goverment will not allow allow this to happen.

5. The gates of Avalon will open and the elves and fairies will use magic to save us.

6. Insert some nonsense of your choosing here P )

Denial and delusion is strong in these people. So fuck it telling people the truth is a waste of time. They can freeze and starve in the dark having no one to blame but themselves.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('roccman', 'T')he media has a strangle hold on TV watchers and has brainwashed them.

Non-TV Watchers get it because they are not told what to get.

[SpringCreekFarm]

You could say that my reaction to peak oil was that I stopped my muscial career in it's tracks - permanenently.

[MadMarcus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Waterthrush', 'C')'mon folks, it's not that hard to discover the reasoning behind others' denial of Peak Oil. Those reasons have been patiently debunked here too, but the arguments are much less obvious than the Hubberts' Peak bellcurve:

1. Technology - "Someone will think of something. They always do."

[CarlinsDarlin]

People, in the US at least, have very short memories. They always think that the next generation will have it as good, or better, than the previous generation. You don't have to look back too far to see that, what was once considered a luxury is now considered a necessity by most people. They cannot fathom that the future is anything other than "so bright, I gotta wear shades." That attitude, perpetual (unfounded) optimism, and a lack of desire to even try to think outside the box (why should they? they're comfortable where they are...) will make the coming days a big surpirse to them. Then they'll ask, "Why didn't someone TELL me?" Of course, even if you spoon-fed the information to most people, they wouldn't even try to swallow.

I'm with Aaron,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'N')othing like raw acoustic sound and people singing harmony... nothing.

[Anjorni]

It was the funniest thing. A few years ago when I finally took my head out of my arse, a number of things happened, as i'm sure happened with all of the rest of you.

1) I realized that sometime in my life, our world is going to be knocked off it's rails.
2) My child(ren) wont get to enjoy a better childhood/life than I did.
3) The consumption lifestyle that so many of my friends/family live in will be gone... and truth be told, i cant wait to see their reactions...
4) ... This is the most interesting one. Something clicked - truly clicked. I remember back in gradeschool - like junior high, there was a class we took that started discussing economics. I forget what the class was, but that day we were discussing profits and growth. Mind you, i was but a young buck, and they were talking about how corporations profited by selling more and more each year, and if they didnt sell more, or simply kept selling the same quantities, their worth (stock) would decrease. I remember asking myself, how on earth could they sell more and more into perpetuity? There HAD to be a limit! What was it? I asked my teacher at the time, as to how they could keep selling more and more, with nothing to put a limit to it, and although I dont remember the exact answer, I remember it was less than satisfying. When I learned about peak oil, it ALL clicked. What drove the increasing profits and increasing sales, and increasing population to purchase this 'stuff' - was oil. That was the basis of everything. To think people dont see the end to this fuel that drives EVERYTHING westerners build their life out of is amazing. When there is a finite amount of something, you can only take out as much as there is to take? how can you continue to take 'more' of something forever when there is only so much? People can really blind themselves from something when they want to. Mind you, a grade schooler saw that there wasnt something right with the equation... how can (even logical) people ignore it?

In some ways it was a relief to finally get an answer to a question that never quite set well with me, in other ways it was devistating, but now I can only hope that my meager efforts will pay off for a little better lifestyle for my family in the future.

[horsestoaster]

Of course we have the electric guitar and I've had my acoustic Fender forever.I recently got my 9 YO son a vintage Epiphone acoustic and we've had a pretty fair drum kit for my 16 YO son(I'd like to add a little more crash ) so we will be the loud folks out in the country makin' noise.Anyone who doesn't thimnk acoustic music can rock you or thinks it's boring needs to pickup Godsmack's Other Side cd.I dare you not to sing along and grab your axe to play along too!Weird?Maybe.All of us playing together-very funny stuff!

[horsestoaster]

Remember even at the end of a tough day on the praire PA would grab up his fiddle and bring a bit of whimsy to bear on the barest circumstances!My own Grandpa did the same thing during the Depression of the 30's.I've tried to make contigencies as is possible but the music flows the most natural for me and mine.Odd?Hubby thinks so,but we're ok with it!

[sittinguy]

I guess i never thought about the music, I'm thinking solar power for the dj booth,, oh yea

[bodigami]

this thread is about the reactions of those you know when you first started talking about peak oil.

in chat (paraphrased):
me - do you know what is peak of oil production?
other - no
me - what do you understand of this name?
other - I guess it's when oil PRICES peak

...

[JJ]

too many reactions of disbelief and or I'm crazy/insane pick your word. Now I'm starting to think like someone said on the other thread "why tell anyone?" just to lessen my own chance? It certainly doesn't seem that many are interested in embracing the concept...

[Revi]

I had a guy tell me to shut up. He really got upset. I still haven't talked to him, and that was about a month ago. I have decided to shut up now. It's too obvious. I'm not discussing peak oil with people who don't know about it any more. There's no percentage in it. I think that people are either in the denial or the anger stage, so it's hard to talk to them.

[jasonraymondson]

We are not running out of oil.
Stop being paranoid.
Even if we were running out of oil, technology will come up with new ways.
Blank Stares
Deer in the headlight face

[eastbay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Revi', ' ')I have decided to shut up now.

[BigTex]

"Oh yeah, I know, we've been through all this before in the 1970s."