Doomer or PowerDowner?

johnmarkos · Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

Like Omnitir said, only more so. Wink

I believe that reality is complex.

Nonetheless, I'm ~75% optimistic. This is likely a genetic predisposition.

gg3 · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 12:36 am Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

Doomer who acts like a powerdowner.

That is, I think the crap is going to hit the fan hard, but I'm doing everything I can to contribute to mitigating the impact. Seems to me that's the most realistic approach.

Wednesday · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

In between Doomer and Powerdowner.

kmann · Heavy Crude Joined: Jul 25, 2005 Posts: 321

I voted cornucopian because I've been accused of it. Besides, I always vote for the underdog. The description given best fits my views. I'm not saying we'll be pumping crude forever, just that we'll get more and more utility out of it until it's no longer needed. Upheaval from shortages? Probably no more than now or in the past.
Ask me on another day and I'll likely give a different answer.

Bas · Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:11 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

crapattack · Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

Used to be a powerdowner, as per Monte's and Richard Heinberg's definition. Am now more in the doomer category although I believe lots of well-prepared folks will survive. I don't tend to "shout about it" anymore though, most of my energy these days is selfishly going into saving my own & friends asses. I don't believe any amount of talk will force a sudden reversal, stopping distances are, afterall just about physics. And even if there was the will I just don't see how we can re-tool our energy systems in time to prevent collapse simply due to the scale of the project - despite that I and many people would like to believe otherwise. That won't prevent me, however, from switching to alternatives and trying to convince as many folks as possible.
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Bas · Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

alot will depend on how much time we will have between "peakoil" at which point prices will explode but oil will still be abundant and the point at which production really starts to collapse.

With these kind of uncertainties I think you can't blame people from changing their visions on the future every now and then and that's what has made this poll so interesting; it shows what we think on average and I think we can sum up with saying that we as a whole expect alot from the powerdown scenario but that ultimate doom is certainly on our minds and considered a real possibility.
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MonteQuest · Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

As time goes on, I am becoming increasingly convinced that change will come only when we hit that wall, not before. The change will be coping and adapting. Forget fixes and transition.
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SeasonOfPain · Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

My ideal would be to be a PowerDowner. However, since humanity seems firmly pre-disposed towards avoiding immediate discomfort even if it means more proximate extinction, I would probably be considered a Doomer (i.e. a realist). To balance my ideals I choose the combo of the two.

Technology will not make an iota of difference, because it won't change the way humans have evolved mentally. If we stave off resource depletion, then overpopulation will simply bite us in some other fashion. It's not a situation that can be "solved" or "fixed".

TorrKing · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:17 am Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

I think there is lacking a choice on the poll. I feel more like a PowerDoomer. Razz

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oowolf · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:57 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

I "powered-down" already. I'm prepared to survive a sudden collapse of industrial civilization. I continue to use things like the net but I'm not dependent on outside sources for daily existence.

I've stockpiled most things (clothing,matches, ammo, etc) to keep me supplied for the rest of my life--I have 6 dozen toothbrushes!

However, I'm so jaded I don't really care about living to 100. A traumatic injury could happen anytime. If life becomes unbearably painful there's always the ol' 45.

crapattack · Posted: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:30 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

Good for you Oowolf, and right what you say about the injury. Having the community of skills is good, hopefully you'll be lucky and have a medic, but no guarantee. In post-collapse world painkillers are going to be priceless. If you don't have a '45 you can fall on a spike.
_________________
"Ninety percent of everything is crap."
-Theodore Sturgeon

Stay low and run in a random pattern.

List of Civilian Nuclear Accidents

Wednesday · Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:42 am Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

gg3 · Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:22 am Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?

Painkillers aren't going to be priceless if people have the foresight to:

a) Note the locations of willow trees whose bark can be used to prepare tea. This is the natural source of aspirin, the safest of all pain relievers. Get some practice preparing and using this for routine headaches and fevers, starting with a dose that you expect will be too small, and gradually working your way up during subsequent headaches until you find a dose that is equivalent to two regular aspirin.

b) Obtain seeds for the opium poppy, Papaver Somniferum, and plant them as ornamentals in a reasonably safe location (this is legal just as long as you don't slit open the parts of the plant where the opium accumulates). Keep them coming up every year. Do not under any circumstances use opium recreationally because it is after all the prototypical addictive narcotic and the risk of addiction is very high for most people. However it is worthwhile learning the technique of turning the raw plant sap into a form that can be smoked, so you can do it if there is a need. If you are in serious pain it will knock out the pain as effectively as morphine, and when used in that manner only, the risk of dependency is very low. If the crap hits and society breaks, no one's going to enforce the laws against cutting open opium poppies, so by the time painkillers truly become scarce, you can produce all the opium you & your tribe will ever need for accidents & emergencies.

Save the .45 for defense if outlaws come near.

Shannymara · Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: Doomer or PowerDowner?