Shortages: Is 'peak oil' idea dead?

[emordnilap]

So....using all the pumped up data from the late 80's in the public domain, he proclaimed peak in 1989...and when he removed all the pumped up OPEC revisions.....his estimates of peak moved years/another decade/into the next century?

Someone might think the exact opposite would have happened instead?

If I was as bothered as you purport to be, I would get in touch with him and ask/challenge him directly. I've done that with other people and it's educational, you should try it.

Somehow, I don't think you'd would though (waits for excuses).

[emordnilap]

Ah.

Anyway, here's Mr Campbell doing a presentation in May 2012. 38 minutes, well worth your time as usual. Shame they give him the wrong name, an insulting one at that.

[ceti331]

How can anyone doubt the idea of peak oil. its distressing that so many people can't see it.

demand for resources outstrips supply - people dont have everything they want , or need. people live in decaying slums, people are starving etc.

the economic crisis was due to a ponzi scheme on houses? ..this was fundementally mass speculation on impending scarcity.

if there were spare resources for doing something genuinely constructive (i.e. satisfying all the unmet demands that are plain to see all over the world) people wouldn't have needed to go own that route in the first place.

[Halfbreed]

How can anyone doubt the idea of peak oil. its distressing that so many people can't see it.

Why should it bother you? Or me? People distressingly miss all kinds of things, and even worse believe in all sorts of craziness in general. They know the moon landings were faked, the man in sky governs their actions, aliens rule the world behind the scenes with the help of the Illuminati and the Church, the US government decided to blow up some buildings in New York to convince the citizens to go to war for oil...and then when they went to war....forgot to get the oil. So some can't see peak oil? Some can't figure out their bank balance before they write a check which bounces, my mother can't figure out how to use an iPad, entire countries think that shooting missiles into other countries is a good idea, people often put their underwear on backwards. Peak oil? Goodness gracious, you may as well discuss relativity with a chimpanze.

[emordnilap]

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[ceti331]

How can anyone doubt the idea of peak oil. its distressing that so many people can't see it.

Why should it bother you?

Because the world is driven by the herd. Those in power are there because they 'resonate' with the herd.
If you try to go a different direction to the herd, you get trampled.

Right now the herd is charging toward the edge of a cliff.


That is why it bothers me. If people can't even see the problem, it will never get solved,and we'll keep making the situation worse, as we have been for decades.

[Catweazle]

If you try to go a different direction to the herd, you get trampled.

Right now the herd is charging toward the edge of a cliff.

The trouble with this analogy is that even if you leave the herd you're still going over the cliff.

[ceti331]

If you try to go a different direction to the herd, you get trampled.

Right now the herd is charging toward the edge of a cliff.

The trouble with this analogy is that even if you leave the herd you're still going over the cliff.

you're being pulled along, by the herd

[Halfbreed]

Right now the herd is charging toward the edge of a cliff.

Sounds like an argument for changing the herd behavior, and failing that, enjoy the ride? Certainly your angle doesn't leave room for much else.

That is why it bothers me. If people can't even see the problem, it will never get solved,and we'll keep making the situation worse, as we have been for decades.

What about the question, CAN people see the problem? Is it reasonable for them to be expected to see it? Too many other causes can be claimed to have triggered some of the more interesting economic conditions we are now going through to think that peak oil stands out as a glaring cause, if in fact it has even happened already (apparently a topic of discussion itself).

[ceti331]

What about the question, CAN people see the problem? Is it reasonable for them to be expected to see it? Too many other causes can be claimed to have triggered some of the more interesting economic conditions we are now going through to think that peak oil stands out as a glaring cause, if in fact it has even happened already (apparently a topic of discussion itself).

you shouldn't have to wait for an economic problem to show up before acknowledging this problem:-
multiplying population by using a non-renewable resource will eventually deplete it, and the extra people are doomed

Without any specific numbers, data, or observation, it should be obvious that this process is going to cause a disaster.
Ever since the agrarian age people have reasoned in terms of quantities and making predictions. (areas of land, times taken for crops to grow). ever since people have been using trees, people have had to evolve a concept of living within renewable limits. (those that didn't suffered local die-offs)

its the fact people can't see this that is highly distressing for me .. one faces being trampled or 'pulled along' by an irrational herd

[ujoni08]

Finite: pronunciation: /ˈfʌɪnʌɪt/

adjective

1 limited in size or extent: e.g. 'every computer has a finite amount of memory'

Infinite. pronunciation: /ˈɪnfɪnɪt/

adjective

1 limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate
2 Mathematics greater than any assignable quantity or countable number.
3 Mathematics (of a series) able to be continued indefinitely.

Unless you can convince me that oil is infinite, then it has to be finite. We're using it at a rate of 11 000 barrels per second, every second, minute, hour of every day. I know it's hard to accept, but that is what we're dealing with. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!