Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:06 pm Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
RacerJace wrote:
I currently work in the automotive industry and I have an overwhelming sense of despair every day. I know that what I am doing is futile. However I also know that with two small children and a lovely wife I can not just abandon our main source of income.
I work in advanced development and all of my focus in the last few years has been on inventing technologies that will be somewhat future proof (given what I know we are in for). I have invented manufacturing methods for composite structures that can use natural fibres and resins, minimal labor and minimal tooling. I have ideas for distributed rapid manufacturing that reduce logistics to walk-able distances. And many other ideas for technologies that are somewhat fitting the post PO world. Yet I can't help feeling that it is all moot.
that's good stuff, exactly what you need to reduce the weight of vehicles. i would not call that futile. i would say that companies like Zap (electric cars) need exactly this kind of technology, so as to improve the survivability of their vehicles, without increasing the weight too much (well, they also need new management.)
i worked in R&D about 24 years in Silicon Valley, mostly electronics. it's a lot of fun to work with a group of people on stuff that seems barely possible. a lot of the time my job was weight reduction (on the project, not personally.)
many of the foundations of our technology-as-religion cultures are crumbling. this is bound to have some emotional ripples.
do you have access to tools & shopspace so you can build prototypes of some of the stuff you're imagining ? _________________ http://www.LASIKdecision.com/ ~ Health Warning about LASIK Eye Surgery
Joined: Mar 09, 2007 Posts: 219 Location: No. Calif.
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
yull wrote:
It may be affecting me lately. A few years ago it was all theoretical and academic but to see it all unfolding as we predicted is making it a bit creepy. I mean, oil is nearly $140, food prices exploding, Arctic melting as rates well beyond anybody's worst-case, metal prices exploding, financial crisis, rioting over fuel, strikes, etc etc. If someone predicted this a few years ago they would have been called nuts.
The more I read, the more I think that it could be worse even than the doomers think. I think the psychology of the realisation that it's all over will trigger a massive social, cultural and political shift across the western world. It will be a change from a cultural mindset of progress to that of decline and believe people's thoughts, behaviours and attitudes will drastically change. Their whole mental make up will be shaken, it will be like waking from a dream. I get a feeling that something huge is happening. It's subtle at the moment but I do feel it.
So what does PO really mean to the average person?
Economic collapse.
So what happens afterwards?
More economic collapse.
Then what?
Let's not talk about that.
As my doom-o-meter shoots past MAX (per the other thread).
Watching 'Crude Awakening' and ENJOYING it so much -- yes, we doomers do enjoy the technicalities of it all. Just thinking if I should show it to anybody else and imagining what kind of conversation to have afterwards.
Joined: May 08, 2008 Posts: 26 Location: California
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:21 am Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
I don't know if this is pre-traumatic stress disorder, but I cannot handle loud noises all of a sudden. I jump when a truck hits a pothole and the loud clanging of metal happens.
The boom of an occasional firework outside is also causing this reaction.
The "voice of reason" in my life said to me 'be careful what you think and believe...because even if it is happening, you don't want to contribute to it with your own thoughts.' ...Thoughts/beliefs create reality _________________ "Waking up from the American Dream"
Joined: Jun 29, 2008 Posts: 82 Location: San Luis Obispo, CA / San Jose, CA
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:40 am Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
I must say I have been having a bit of PTSD. I am a senior in college studying Construction Management and Sustainable Design. I really want to graduate before the crap hits the fan, ive been in school my entire life (21) and if I just accomplished that it would be excellent....I think id be "more ok". This last year with the spike in oil prices it just feels like the prophecies are coming true and all my doubts as to whether "this is actually going to happen" are flying out the window. I quit driving and have begun to embrace bicycles as my main form of transit. Its very difficult when someone says a statement regarding the future, such as, where do you want to work when you get older, etc etc. Seems so futile. If you truly believe peak oil down to your core, you cannot be convinced otherwise. I really wish I got 5 more years to prepare, it seems to be hitting me when I really dont want it to... but who gets that luxury...
Joined: Oct 16, 2005 Posts: 227 Location: Australia
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:25 am Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
pedalling_faster wrote:
RacerJace wrote:
I currently work in the automotive industry and I have an overwhelming sense of despair every day. I know that what I am doing is futile. However I also know that with two small children and a lovely wife I can not just abandon our main source of income.
I work in advanced development and all of my focus in the last few years has been on inventing technologies that will be somewhat future proof (given what I know we are in for). I have invented manufacturing methods for composite structures that can use natural fibres and resins, minimal labor and minimal tooling. I have ideas for distributed rapid manufacturing that reduce logistics to walk-able distances. And many other ideas for technologies that are somewhat fitting the post PO world. Yet I can't help feeling that it is all moot.
that's good stuff, exactly what you need to reduce the weight of vehicles. i would not call that futile. i would say that companies like Zap (electric cars) need exactly this kind of technology, so as to improve the survivability of their vehicles, without increasing the weight too much (well, they also need new management.)
i worked in R&D about 24 years in Silicon Valley, mostly electronics. it's a lot of fun to work with a group of people on stuff that seems barely possible. a lot of the time my job was weight reduction (on the project, not personally.)
many of the foundations of our technology-as-religion cultures are crumbling. this is bound to have some emotional ripples.
do you have access to tools & shopspace so you can build prototypes of some of the stuff you're imagining ?
No, at home I have nothing more than a small work bench and a few of your typical home maintenance tools. However I am transitioning to a career in academia with one of the universities here. They have great workshop facilities for me to tinker and experiment. In a couple of months I'll be working part time in the automotive company and part time on a fully funded PhD. Then when the automotive business crashes, as I expect it will soon, I'll have both feet firmly placed in the university lecturing in the evenings to supplement a modest researcher income.
[rant] I have hope ... but it often gets trampled on when I look around and all I see is so much ego driven short term thinking self serving materialistic ignorant wasteful consumerist useless time wasting sheeple activity ... and having to be part of it ... I feel like such a goat [/rant] _________________ ...
"...and now the weather. Tomorrow will be cloudy with scattered showers spreading from the Middle East ... with an expected high of 4000 degrees Celsius" - Roger Waters
Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 4070 Location: Graceland
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 11:15 am Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
As my current sig line suggests, I think that one way of looking at where we are at is to understand that although many of us used to think we were walking on solid ground, we now realize that as a society we are actually walking a tight rope above a huge tiger pit and both anchor points for the wire are unraveling.
There are people who can perform stunts like this and keep a cool head while doing it. We should aspire to be like those people.
Peak oil has come a long way when there are three types of doomers.
I feel like a "do-more doomer", but I think I have aspects of all three on different days.
I know it's going to get bad, but I try to be like Roberto Benini in Life is Beautiful. He lived in the worst conditions imaginable, working for the Nazi war machine. All the children were gassed along with anyone who couldn't do heavy work. He told his son to hide and if he did a good job he would get a tank.
I know how bad it will get, but I prefer to tell my students and even some friends that we're building a tank. _________________ Deep in the mud and slime of things, even there, something sings.
I have my ups and downs. The Peak is with me, everywhere I go. I take it with me to grocery store and wonder about how the variety we see on the shelves will soon begin to vanish while prices rise. I bring it along on trips home, wondering how much longer the airlines will stay in business.
And no matter where I go, it's in the background of my thoughts when I see people: "You are so screwed." Co-workers, patients, acquaintances, family friends, strangers at the shopping center, people sitting in their cars. I hear people talking about their hopes, dreams, upcoming weddings, new babies on the way, houses being built.. and I wonder how they'll all fare. It's an eerie feeling, but I don't want to risk being deemed crazy if I bring-up the topic. So my mouth stays shut.
It also lingers in the back of my mind at work; how long will health care be around to bring me the income I need to prepare? Do I have another 5 years of employment? 10? I know that I'll be cutting things very closely financially, and it's been a huge stress to me lately. I'm gobbling-up all of the overtime I can right now while I can. This is probably the thing that keeps me up at night.
I don't stress about politics nearly as much as I used to, since most issues pale in comparison to what looms ahead. This is quite dramatic, as I used to obsess over these issues. Electoral map on one wall of the office, key senate race numbers on another wall.. but now gone! While I tend to be in the left-libertarian region, I no longer stress. Obama winning might get me tax credits for solar power.. who knows? Heck, McCain might buy us more time by "liberating" more oil fields! Given the past 8 years, there's no telling. So it's hard to predict or care.
My partner is totally on-board with me for off-grid homesite preparations, but I'm not sure he's as pessimistic as I am. I don't think of myself as particularly 'doomerish,' but I don't see what's coming as merely another Great Depression, which is what he's thinking.
Dad seems very open - his mantra has always been "get independent" - but I'm not sure he sees all implications of the Peak. To be honest, I haven't talked to him at length about what's coming. Still, he's pushing me to go off-grid and become as self-sufficient as possible. He's very vague, but often talks about how "we (civilization) can't keep this up much longer."
Of everyone, I think I worry about Mom most.. (this is the point where I had to stop typing and think. I'm at a loss for words.). I'll just say.. I fear how she's going to take the transition, and I admit, I'm adding some comfort measures for her to my plans. It's what any good mama's boy would do, I guess. (On the plus side: she's going to love living with me again.)
The positives? I'm actually looking forward to a simpler, quieter life. A place in the country - complete with garden, chickens, etc - has always been my wish for retirement, even before I found-out about the Peak. And the morbidly unemotional part of me thinks that this is going to be a fascinating period of history to be living in. A front row seat.. to this?!? Wow! But through what venue will I watch? Will TV broadcasting survive? How about radio? Internet? I suspect that the answer is 'yes' to all of these, but I don't know the scale to which we'll see each medium reduced.
Given the complexity of what I'm feeling, there's no surprise that I'm rambling. It felt good to get it out though. _________________ Life may be scary, but it's only temporary.
Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 10:46 pm Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
PonyBoy78 wrote:
I have my ups and downs. The Peak is with me, everywhere I go. I take it with me to grocery store and wonder about how the variety we see on the shelves will soon begin to vanish while prices rise. I bring it along on trips home, wondering how much longer the airlines will stay in business.
And no matter where I go, it's in the background of my thoughts when I see people: "You are so screwed." Co-workers, patients, acquaintances, family friends, strangers at the shopping center, people sitting in their cars. I hear people talking about their hopes, dreams, upcoming weddings, new babies on the way, houses being built.. and I wonder how they'll all fare. It's an eerie feeling, but I don't want to risk being deemed crazy if I bring-up the topic. So my mouth stays shut.
Thats pretty much it. Also our 3.5 yr old son will not have college. One trillion barrels (the other half of the curve) wont last too long given the yearly increase in the global demand and world human population and car population. More new weddings, more babies, more cars, more globalization, shopping stores, with China rapidly industrializing as the #1 importer of concrete and it all doesnt look good. The world is growing and growing and you have to be somewhat amazing to handle it all with your brain still intact. I guess thats the stress before the trauma.
Dont worry about being deemed crazy. Just grow lots of zucchini and squash and potatoes and tomatoes. Becomes difficult to call you crazy when youve got that good stuff growing, even in the middle of suburbia. Vining squash crawling ?15 feet across my (useless grass) yard is quelling my PTSD. Its good for me so let my neighbors talk. We only live this life once (as you are) so make it a good one... It also helps to stock up on stuff like water filters, coconut oil, and to gain plant knowledge. Build it and they will come...
Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 3353 Location: Minniesotuh
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 6:22 am Post subject: Re: "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder"
I am coming back up from a couple of bad DOOM days.
Try reading the archives for any length of time; comparing the logic used by early posters & comparing it to my common sense, seeing all the predictions and prophecies coming true, and extrapolating what is happening now to the logical conclusions-well, I know every living thing on this planet is in serious trouble.
What is sooo terribly sad is that so many have no idea. And, trying to live among those people, trying to prepare in whatever little ways we can, not just mentally but physically, and sometimes being shot down, even on the little things, is so depressing. _________________ "RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto
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