In attempting to bolster the mass rollout of supposed ‘clean/green/sustainable’ ‘renewable’ energy technologies (and the necessary ‘investments’, particularly in terms of finite resources–especially energy), the marketers of these industrial products and their enthusiastic supporters have created and pushed a narrative/mythos surrounding them whereby the technologies are perceived as primarily environmentally-friendly but also capable of replacing our master resource: hydrocarbons.
At this point, i'm just convinced that these dynamics are hardwired into any life-span of homo sapiens and the end points of collapse after collapse until a point at which there are not enough resources or suitable conditions to rebuild complex societies again is inevitable. You could run a million different sims and the timelines might change a little, the historical details, the journey to the end point etc., but effectively, certain genetic/psychological traits would inevitably win out such that every civilisational model would eventually come to be controlled by hierarchical systems that rewarded delusional psychopathy. It's a game theory model that humans as a dynamic organism just seem incapable of avoiding, especially once civilisational complexity passes some critical juncture. Our remarkable cognitive abilities mean that new knowledge and technology beget more new knowledge and technology. Our baseline curiosity does not allow us to ignore such progress as the progress always appears beneficial. Our evolutionary short-sightedness does not allow us to do the required safeguarding analysis diligently enough or often enough. Progress moves faster than our ability to evolve and evolution optimises for the wrong things anyway. It created a superagential organism that has the ability to have such an outweighed influence on the biosphere that instead of just dying out when it overshoots, it finds ways to last longer and longer than it should be doing more and more damage. It all ends at some point, somehow, but we are far past the point where we can ourselves create a critical mass of people willing or able to live in ways that will reverse the overall dynamic. The critical mass went the other direction decades ago, and now only collapse will change it. Live the day but also prepare for that painful and uncertain future if you have the means.
At this point, i'm just convinced that these dynamics are hardwired into any life-span of homo sapiens and the end points of collapse after collapse until a point at which there are not enough resources or suitable conditions to rebuild complex societies again is inevitable. You could run a million different sims and the timelines might change a little, the historical details, the journey to the end point etc., but effectively, certain genetic/psychological traits would inevitably win out such that every civilisational model would eventually come to be controlled by hierarchical systems that rewarded delusional psychopathy. It's a game theory model that humans as a dynamic organism just seem incapable of avoiding, especially once civilisational complexity passes some critical juncture. Our remarkable cognitive abilities mean that new knowledge and technology beget more new knowledge and technology. Our baseline curiosity does not allow us to ignore such progress as the progress always appears beneficial. Our evolutionary short-sightedness does not allow us to do the required safeguarding analysis diligently enough or often enough. Progress moves faster than our ability to evolve and evolution optimises for the wrong things anyway. It created a superagential organism that has the ability to have such an outweighed influence on the biosphere that instead of just dying out when it overshoots, it finds ways to last longer and longer than it should be doing more and more damage. It all ends at some point, somehow, but we are far past the point where we can ourselves create a critical mass of people willing or able to live in ways that will reverse the overall dynamic. The critical mass went the other direction decades ago, and now only collapse will change it. Live the day but also prepare for that painful and uncertain future if you have the means.
Really good.