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> “peak oil” ... It’s an illusion. The world goes ‘round. Are you suggesting that oil is not finite??? Or that we have an easy replacement at hand contrary to

> “peak oil” ... It’s an illusion. The world goes ‘round. Are you suggesting that oil is not finite??? Or that we have an easy replacement at hand contrary to the people that says otherwise such as in the "Planet of The humans" documentary?

yosito 5y ago
I think what they are suggesting is that humans will adapt to the changing environment as we have done over tens of thousands of years of evolution.
- XorNot 5y ago
  "Adapt" doesn't mean things will be better. Or even "okay". Climate change won't make humanity extinct and the planet will not notice it happening. But you will definitely notice your life being dominated by trying to get the government to pay out on your house (aka life savings) which was destroyed in a wildfire after the insurance company went bankrupt from a "black swan" event.
  - marcosdumay 5y ago
    And yet, we are here, with oil priced around 100x what it was when the book was published, so that it is being outcompeted by alternatives for several uses. It's not great, but people are adapting just fine. And by the way, that wildfire may have been caused by Global Warming, the the house price (that's actually what is bankrupting you) is really not because of this collapse. Anyway, the conclusion is that we should focus on adapting faster and better. I'm not sure if playing doom is helpful.
    - XorNot 5y ago
      It's not the house price: it's your house is destroyed and the land is no longer viable. What do you do? Same problem with coastal real estate: your house is now uninsurable against flood, and then gets flooded and is destroyed - what do you do? Take a recent disaster: say as a resident you believe the Miami condo you lived in was structurally unsound, but the management does not: what do you do? "Adapt" means quite different things at different scales, and you currently live in the "oh, yeah its a big more expensive" part of that. But no middle class person can afford to straight lose the value of their house if they own it. In all these cases you're alive, you probably have running water, food and power. But you're poorer - by a lot, and your quality of life is reduced. You "adapted".
      - marcosdumay 5y ago
        > It's not the house price: it's your house is destroyed and the land is no longer viable. What do you do? Move. Our difficulty to move is a new phenomenon and isn't created by any of the variables on those simulations.
        XorNot 5y ago
        With what capital? Essentially no one can afford to lose the value of their house. That's the point: you're going to take a 100% loss on the value of the land and building.

yosito 5y ago

I think what they are suggesting is that humans will adapt to the changing environment as we have done over tens of thousands of years of evolution.

XorNot 5y ago
"Adapt" doesn't mean things will be better. Or even "okay". Climate change won't make humanity extinct and the planet will not notice it happening. But you will definitely notice your life being dominated by trying to get the government to pay out on your house (aka life savings) which was destroyed in a wildfire after the insurance company went bankrupt from a "black swan" event.
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  And yet, we are here, with oil priced around 100x what it was when the book was published, so that it is being outcompeted by alternatives for several uses. It's not great, but people are adapting just fine. And by the way, that wildfire may have been caused by Global Warming, the the house price (that's actually what is bankrupting you) is really not because of this collapse. Anyway, the conclusion is that we should focus on adapting faster and better. I'm not sure if playing doom is helpful.
  - XorNot 5y ago
    It's not the house price: it's your house is destroyed and the land is no longer viable. What do you do? Same problem with coastal real estate: your house is now uninsurable against flood, and then gets flooded and is destroyed - what do you do? Take a recent disaster: say as a resident you believe the Miami condo you lived in was structurally unsound, but the management does not: what do you do? "Adapt" means quite different things at different scales, and you currently live in the "oh, yeah its a big more expensive" part of that. But no middle class person can afford to straight lose the value of their house if they own it. In all these cases you're alive, you probably have running water, food and power. But you're poorer - by a lot, and your quality of life is reduced. You "adapted".
    - marcosdumay 5y ago
      > It's not the house price: it's your house is destroyed and the land is no longer viable. What do you do? Move. Our difficulty to move is a new phenomenon and isn't created by any of the variables on those simulations.
      - XorNot 5y ago
        With what capital? Essentially no one can afford to lose the value of their house. That's the point: you're going to take a 100% loss on the value of the land and building.