Should no alternative become readily available, will it be such a bad thing?
It's inevitable and we all know it, the oil bubble is going to burst, whether it be in 10 years or 100 years. The industrialized world fears the day when using oil for the many tasks it has in daily life becomes unfeasible, but I think that oil has given humanity a false sense of purpose on this earth. Through the use of oil, we've achieved many great things: it is now possible to hop from continent to continent in a matter of hours and interstate travel has become infinitely more efficient, modern medicine has allowed us to live much longer and much healthier lives, the technological revolution most definitely spawned because of oil and it's derivatives, agricultural advancements now allow us to feed numbers that would not be possible without oil, and the manufacture of pretty much everything has become much easier. But in this technologically inclined era, we've made it our purpose (even if we don't really have a purpose) to invent that next "big thing." Commercialism and consumerism are traits that now define our society, and at times it seems as though they completely outweigh any compassion or caring that once existed. A perfect example is the world of technology where everything keeps getting bigger, better and faster; this is not necessarily a bad thing, but is this what we're meant to live for? It seems that as we advance technologically we decline socially. I know in most homes and often my own, time spent watching television or on the computer dwarfs time spent actually as a family.
Now when it comes to questions like these, I know that there is no correct path for humanity to follow, but do the technological benefits of advancement outweigh the societal cons? If we find no real alternative for oil and we begin to 'technologically devolve', for lack of a better phrase, will that necessarily be a bad thing? Sure automobiles and the internet will be missed, and chance are, for a while quality of life will drop greatly as the millions, maybe billions, that can't be supported without oil for either transportation of goods, agriculture or medicine die off; but we've become so dependent on, and spoiled by, technology that we've lost much of the need for real human interaction -- I'm typing this on a computer to be read over the internet while hundreds of people live in my neighborhood within walking distance, yet none will ever hear me speak any of these words -- and I personally believe that as a culture and society, we've lost more than we've gained.
It's inevitable and we all know it, the oil bubble is going to burst, whether it be in 10 years or 100 years. The industrialized world fears the day when using oil for the many tasks it has in daily life becomes unfeasible, but I think that oil has given humanity a false sense of purpose on this earth. Through the use of oil, we've achieved many great things: it is now possible to hop from continent to continent in a matter of hours and interstate travel has become infinitely more efficient, modern medicine has allowed us to live much longer and much healthier lives, the technological revolution most definitely spawned because of oil and it's derivatives, agricultural advancements now allow us to feed numbers that would not be possible without oil, and the manufacture of pretty much everything has become much easier. But in this technologically inclined era, we've made it our purpose (even if we don't really have a purpose) to invent that next "big thing." Commercialism and consumerism are traits that now define our society, and at times it seems as though they completely outweigh any compassion or caring that once existed. A perfect example is the world of technology where everything keeps getting bigger, better and faster; this is not necessarily a bad thing, but is this what we're meant to live for? It seems that as we advance technologically we decline socially. I know in most homes and often my own, time spent watching television or on the computer dwarfs time spent actually as a family.
Now when it comes to questions like these, I know that there is no correct path for humanity to follow, but do the technological benefits of advancement outweigh the societal cons? If we find no real alternative for oil and we begin to 'technologically devolve', for lack of a better phrase, will that necessarily be a bad thing? Sure automobiles and the internet will be missed, and chance are, for a while quality of life will drop greatly as the millions, maybe billions, that can't be supported without oil for either transportation of goods, agriculture or medicine die off; but we've become so dependent on, and spoiled by, technology that we've lost much of the need for real human interaction -- I'm typing this on a computer to be read over the internet while hundreds of people live in my neighborhood within walking distance, yet none will ever hear me speak any of these words -- and I personally believe that as a culture and society, we've lost more than we've gained.
