Being informed is too depressing for me!

HamRadioRocks · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 19, 2006 Posts: 108

I've always felt an obligation to know what's going on in the world. But the more attention I pay to keeping up, the worse I feel. Conversely, the less I pay attention to what's going on in the world, the happier I feel. The problem is that I now feel like I'd have to be as dumb as Jessica Simpson in order to be happy. Now I'm thinking that Jessica Simpson isn't that dumb, as being dumb must be making her happier.

I am 33 years old. In the days of double digit inflation, I was too busy watching "Sesame Street" to know what was going on. I was aware of the nuclear arms race and Cold War as a kid in the 1980s, but I didn't obsess over it, and my gut feel was that we'd somehow muddle through. (Of course, my attention was on school and growing up.) I remember that Gulf War I monopolized the news in 1990-1991. I was against the war, but it didn't really weigh on my morale. I was too busy studying because of the torrential workload of my junior year of high school. (I can't believe I survived that and graduated as salutatorian. I'd never be able to handle that today. From the stories on the academic hyper-competitiveness I've read about, I think that if I were in high school today, I'd get crushed academically like Nicole Richie in a mosh pit.)

But since the 1990s, the world news has been dragging down my overall morale. It's been a consistent stairstep downwards. One major step downwards was the Oklahoma City bombing. An even bigger step downwards was the September 11th attacks. The biggest step downwards was finding out that Peak Oil was close at hand and that it would end civilization as we know it. In between these steps was a gradual erosion of my morale.

Of the downward steps in my morale, Peak Oil has been the biggest, exceeding that of the September 11th attacks. The implications of Peak Oil are far-reaching - the end of civilization as we know it and a major die-off.

In the case of the September 11th attacks, I have the good sense to avoid the news on each anniversary and to instead distract myself with funny, fluffy movies like _Porkys_, _Porkys II_, etc. I also have the good sense to change the TV channel or radio station every time the news turns to Iraq. (I'm glad I don't have cable TV. I think CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News are in cahoots with the manufacturers of blood pressure lowering medications. Whoever decided to force the crawl on all of us should be locked in a padded cell and forced to watch those stations.)

I've been noticing a subtle and gradual changes in myself over the years. I'm much more impatient than I used to be. My outlook on life has been on the decline when it should be improving because the rest of my life has been improving over the past several years. And I've been paying more and more attention to the adventures of Paris and Nicole for comic relief.

I'm not quite sure how else to describe the change in me. The trouble with Peak Oil is that it's been a backdrop in the two years since I came across this web site. Every major tragedy that happens (such as the Hurricane Katrina aftermath in New Orleans) seems to be connected in some way to Peak Oil. So many things remind me of Peak Oil. Ever since I learned how close Peak Oil is, a part of me has come unglued. I really notice it when tragic news dominates the headlines, such as yesterday's bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

It also seems that no matter what I do, I can only temporarily shake off the Peak Oil gloom before it creeps back into my psyche.

Do any of you have any suggestions on how to deal with Peak Oil? I've NEVER been so obsessed about an issue before in my life. I want to turn the clock back.

Roccland · Peak Oil Prophet Joined: Jun 16, 2007 Posts: 1696

Look bro...get your brain wrapped around what you care about...

the rest is easy.

Keep well.
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500 MPH into a brick wall - me

HamRadioRocks · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 19, 2006 Posts: 108

In 2004, I discovered dailykos.com. It's MUCH more informative than the popular news channels, but it's also MUCH more depressing. See the conundrum? It seems that happiness and knowledge are mutually exclusive, and a part of me feels obligated to be informed about what's going on in the world. I wish I were one of those idiots who had to rely on Jay Leno for the world news. At least he (OK, his writers) can put a humorous spin on anything. Kip and Kim (Jaywalk all-stars) aren't so dumb. Being so ignorant is so blissful for them.

Jack · Dark Lord Joined: Aug 11, 2004 Posts: 5123

If you think being informed is depressing, ask yourself what destiny being uninformed will lead to.

Be certain of one thing - our civilization, and everything we're attached to will surely die. It's called change. If someone discovers "the answer" - the magic bullet that permits eternal growth without tears - then the civilization will be transformed (die) as certainly as if the worst-case peak oil scenario is true.

Enjoy the show. The scenes pass and change, as will you and I.
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Dieoff. Fun to watch. Better with hot buttered popcorn! new_popcornsmiley

SeasonOfPain

HamRadio, I'm in about the same boat as you (35). Not a single day goes by that I don't dwell on PO to some degree. Add on top of that the stress of trying to sell a house with full awareness of an imploding housing market (again... I bought this house at the peak in 2005, but misfired and got a good house close to everything but in the wrong neighborhood).

Ignorance is indeed bliss. There are many days I alternate between envy for those who are unaware and extreme anger at those who are willfully in denial (i.e. who have been shown the likelihood of impending collapse but choose to ignore it). However, I know that I wouldn't have it any other way. I've always been a pessimist, and I'd rather know the truth and anticipate the worst, even if it's much more protractedly stressful than living an ignorant life. I couldn't live with myself otherwise.

9/11 was a big catalyst for me. I was very politically active in the early 90's, but then fell into a suburban stupor the latter half of that decade, and didn't really pay attention to the world around me. When 9/11 happened, the shock was so great that I swore I wouldn't be taken by surprise like that again. This led to be becoming very world-aware and politically active again, and I also discovered Daily Kos. However, I felt the community there to be too "establishment-centric" and found the more free-ranging, chaotic community on Atrios's Eschaton blog to be more my cup of tea. When Bush was re-elected in 2004 my optimism and faith in the political system pretty much died, and misanthropism took over. Not long after that someone on the Eschaton blog posted a link to LATOC, and the rest is history.

I think if there's one ounce of comfort we can take from understanding the painful truth of the situation is that we're being mentally toughened now. When everyone else is reeling from shock and bewilderment and trying to figure out why the world they thought they understood is crumbling around them, we'll be able to more coolly analyze the situation and adapt as necessary. At least that's my hope.

Colorado-Valley · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 16, 2004 Posts: 733

Man, you should have been around in the sixties when Nixon and Vietnam were raging, kids were getting drafted for slaughter in S.E. Asia, both the Kennedys and Martin Luther King had been assassinated, the National Guard was shooting students in Ohio ...

Well, you get the picture ...

Shock

savethehumans · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Oct 20, 2004 Posts: 1541

syrac818 · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 01, 2005 Posts: 115

I think the most important thing to remember is that the world is always shifting/moving/changing - and this is just one aspect of it.

You will be ok, as long as you choose to move with the flow of change, as opposed to fight against it. Being depressed or anxious about what is ahead and how bad it will be is both pointless and ineffective. Humanity can and will survive - it always does - the important thing is how you position yourself prior.

Another important things to realize is that this forum moves from poin A to point Z in no time. It goes from a happy Walmart-growth-wealth-lifestyle to the 13th century. This is always possible, but not probable. The world shifts, and there's a lot of gray area, there's a lot of letters between A and Z.

Basically, you're not helpless. If you choose to accept that a dire peak oil apocalypse is in front of you, then that's cool. But if it makes you scared, nervous, depressed - then work to change it. Whether you do or you don't make an incredible change isn't what matters, what matters is that you're still alive and have the power to make some difference. If you're simply waiting for your own slow, dark death - then the truth is you're already dead.

Every generation has their reasons to be filled with doom - we're no different. It's just a matter of deciding how to approach it.

Just my opinion.

timbo

Hence the saying "Ignorance is bliss."

bart

Depressed about events?

Read history. There is something soothing about reading how people made it through situations much worse than we have faced... and how they often did it with style and courage.

It puts things into perspective.

The older I get, the more valuable I find history and the less seriously I take journalism.

Bart
Energy Bulletin

seldom_seen · Fission Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 2068

Fore me. I like to go deep in to the remotest wilderness I can find. After 3 or 4 days time slows down, the senses awaken, and life takes on a different rhythm. You settle in to a state of calm awareness.

You begin to realize that underneath 'this' world there is a different world that seems to be humming along just fine. Doing its thing with complete indifference to 'this' world. It didn't miss a beat before we were here and it won't miss a beat when we're gone. (Even if it comes down to nukes. As Bob Marley wrote "have no fear for atomic energy 'cause none of them can stop the time.")

You can't experience this on a day hike or a weekend. You need to be out there, in the back of beyond for at least a week. It's cheap too. No hotels, rental cars, plane tickets. A journey into the wilderness is the freest, cheapest, most nonprivileged of pleasures. Anyone with two legs and the price of a pair of army surplus combat boots may enter. (ed abbey)

When you come back you realize that 'this' world isn't the only world. Come to think of it, reminds me of a scene from The Thin Red Line:

Battle_Scarred_Galactico · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 07, 2005 Posts: 970

I nominate that as post of the year by Seldom ^
_________________
"One minute I held the key, next the walls were closed on me, and I discovered that my castle stands upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand."

Concerned · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Sep 23, 2004 Posts: 1553

kevincarter

If the news depress you... stop watching the news! but... but... but... THROW YOUR TV AWAY, that's the best thing you could ever do. Refuse to read newspapers or magazines, refuse listen to the radio news or people talking about the news at all. That's pretty much what I've been doing for more than 2 years and I promise you the results are worth it, most important thing is to get rid of your TV, you'll be surprised how much time you get back and how your perception on things change. I used to watch TV news while having dinner with my wife, usually I'd punch the table all angry "Do this bastards think we are a bunch of idiots?"

Where do news come after all? Just a few agencies, what you see is never reality, NEVER, so why watch it at all?

Worried about PO? just watch the oil price if you will and forget about the rest, keep busy, do something positive like you are already doing by selling your house, concetrate on that, the world can take care of itself.
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When someone interprets as derogatory almost anything that is said about him (or about groups with whom he identifies) we conclude that he has inferiority feelings or low self-esteem.

Barbara

ASPO Italia President Professor Ugo Bardi discovered PO on 9.11.2001.
World record of depression! Laughing

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**no english mothertongue**
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Objects in the rear view mirror
are closer than they appear.