This Contemplation comments upon and summarises a paper that discusses the impact of a sudden and significant energy surplus upon human population growth and the complexity that arises as denser populations struggle to meet the stresses they subsequently encounter.
Population overshoot is clearly a contributor to the overall overshoot, contemporaneous with fossil fuels as it's a major driver, pardon the pun.
Malthus and Anne and Paul Ehrlich's basic hypothesis didn't see the 'green revolution' evolving so were all wrong on timelines, but the hypothesis is still correct.
Guy McPherson and I have also been wrong on timelines, but I still believe that our conclusions of collapse and NTHE still hold firm, I'd love to be wrong on that and most things, I think!
"Elon Musk asserting that humanity should be optimistic about the future because we WILL ‘solve’ the ‘sustainable’ energy dilemma:"
I don't believe Musk believes what he is saying but he has billions of $/reasons to want us, the proles, to keep BAU stumbling as long.
He has more to lose that everyone, hence him buying Donald Trump!
I think the most salient detail in this collapse is "Complexity".
As mentioned in the great article Joseph Tainter's work on the collapse of complex society's is world leading!
Population overshoot is clearly a contributor to the overall overshoot, contemporaneous with fossil fuels as it's a major driver, pardon the pun.
Malthus and Anne and Paul Ehrlich's basic hypothesis didn't see the 'green revolution' evolving so were all wrong on timelines, but the hypothesis is still correct.
Guy McPherson and I have also been wrong on timelines, but I still believe that our conclusions of collapse and NTHE still hold firm, I'd love to be wrong on that and most things, I think!
"Elon Musk asserting that humanity should be optimistic about the future because we WILL ‘solve’ the ‘sustainable’ energy dilemma:"
I don't believe Musk believes what he is saying but he has billions of $/reasons to want us, the proles, to keep BAU stumbling as long.
He has more to lose that everyone, hence him buying Donald Trump!
I think the most salient detail in this collapse is "Complexity".
As mentioned in the great article Joseph Tainter's work on the collapse of complex society's is world leading!
Added below.
https://kevinhester.live/2017/08/08/the-myth-of-human-progress-and-the-collapse-of-complex-societies-chris-hedges/
Thank you Steve🙏