Reply #7: Thanks for your effort. Unfortunately it will be either ignored or not comprehended. [View All]

[Ezlivin]

Our culture is chalk-full of people who really can't comprehend math or think that technology will solve any problem. We often hear this techno-worship prefaced with the comment "If we could put a man on the moon..." Much like the cargo cults of the South Pacific, they think that if we can just get the right group of people working on a problem it can be solved; all we need is a room with computers and scientists and then the answer will appear.

Unless one takes the time to really educate oneself on the special nature of our one-time gift from Mother Nature, it's easy to overestimate mankind's ability to match this fuel source through other means. Petroleum is a very, very special form of compact energy that cannot be equaled. Nothing else comes close to this stored solar energy. It took millions of years to create the store that we have depleted. We are living in a very special time. Cheap oil has allowed us to live way beyond our means. It has enabled us to grow our population beyond sustainable levels. Our technology, including putting the aforementioned man on the moon, was made possible by this power source. Without it we could not have progressed so quickly.

Unfortunately our culture will cling to this power source and demand to continue a lifestyle that is no longer possible, all the while desperately awaiting another technological miracle to keep the machinery running. All the articles in the world about exponential functions and asymptotes will get you nowhere. Not only do people not understand, they don't want to understand the gravity of the situation.