[efarmer]

Uncertainty is a really big issue to cope with for those of us who have wrestled with the Peak OIl scenario and the myriad of related issues that fall into place as the central concept of petroleum being less available is digested and considered.

In 2008 a very contrived economy went into cardiac arrest, it was preceded by petroleum prices spiking in what some said indicated speculators moving to this key commodity from investment in other places that were diminishing, (due to the uncertainty that overtook the housing boom earlier), or as others of the Peak Oil persuasion felt, indicated that supply was not able to meet demand and had run the price of petroleum up to where the economy could not withstand the price point.

But here we are in perhaps the most uncertain time I have ever seen and making choices based on what is the least uncertain path as much as which is the best path in our lives, economy, and politics.

I am assuming we have been cured of getting something for nothing by proxy if not experience.

So the question is, what would you give up to obtain more certainty in your existence?

[Timo]

I'll start out by giving up my Tacoma.

[Ludi]

Right now uncertainly doesn't seem to be bothering me much, so I wouldn't give anything up, personally.

[Ludi]

Well,pstarr, you know I do take anti-fear drugs, so that might account for my attitude. I thought you're in the land of Laid-back, safe behind the Redwood Curtain? Maybe you should be enjoying some more relaxing plant products....

[dinopello]

Well, there is no uncertainty about where we all are going to end up. Just how we get there. Complete certainty about the journey would be incredibly boring and not worth much. So I guess that's how I cope.

In more mundane pursuits, diversification is the mitigation for uncertainty. You give up potential return, but occupy a more robust position.

[Serial_Worrier]

I noticed that none of you brought up God as a means of coping in these trying times. Just let Jesus Christ into your heart!

But otherwise, I take anti-anxiety meds.

[Pops]

You give up potential return, but occupy a more robust position.

Thats close to my plan. Living small, kind frugal, sorta sustainable - on purpose, on my schedule, before it's forced - that way I can build the life I like that doesn't require cheap energy, infinite growth or Chinese foreign aid.

When we first moved from CA (in 04) it felt like we were taking a huge risk, but as it turns out, it was the safest move we could have made.

[Ludi]

When we first moved from CA (in 04) it felt like we were taking a huge risk, but as it turns out, it was the safest move we could have made.

Same here. We moved several years before you did (in '98) and even though we haven't gotten very close to "self-sufficiency," at least we have a much larger degree of security than we did in Los Angeles.

[Xenophobe]

Humans cope with, and make decisions based on, uncertainty every second of every day. It would be more reasonable to ask, can we ever achieve certainty in any aspect of our lives?

An example. There is a quantifiable chance, for every human who is alive at this instant in time, of our dropping dead in the next second from a massive stroke or heart attack, being hit and killed by lightning, having a meteor impact our craniums with enough force to...you know....heck, a gamma burst will do more than just one of us at a time, it could do us all.

All of these uncertainties have to be weighed against whether or not we go to work 5 minutes from now, or eat, or kiss our loved ones goodbye. No need for money in the bank or even food in the frig if you don't cope with the uncertainty of any of these things happening to any of us in the next minute.

There is no certainty. I am juggling the uncertainty of existence while typing, do I weigh those probabilities heavier than usual and run around kissing everyone before I am randomly struck down, or do I waste some time posting knowing that I can live with uncertainty as easily today as I did yesterday?