*2012, Peak Oil, and Prospects for the Autism Spectrum*

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You mean like Doc Emmett Brown in "Back to the Future" did for banana skins and coke cans?

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I get the impression that, whereas many/most NTs seem happy to follow rules emanating from a central administration, whether they understand the logic involved or not, many AS find this very hard.

Personally I tend to need to understand why I am doing something, and feel frustrated if most of the reasons for doing things are based on distant aims/goals/perspectives which I have no contact with or access/input to.

I think that the restructuring towards more local economies which may follow from Peak Oil; growing more food in one's own community, more efficient recycling of materials/waste within towns/villages, local exchange systems, etc, would be more satisfying/enabling from that point of view.

Is it possible that AS, ( because of our need to understand the reasons for things, to see the whole system, and to feel involved/included in feedback on it ), have been seriously "disactivated", our special skills and gifts sidelined, by the last 50-100 years of increasing centralisation?

We are not all computer whizz-kids, nor practising scientists.

Many AS may have been alienated/disabled by the gradual disappearance of local/small-scale systems of production and consumption, and it could make a huge difference to us as a group if approaches like those of the Transition Town initiative/network became widespread, even normal.

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I'm exactly the same! Not sure if it is a purely AS thing as I remember something like this being mentioned on a Myers-Briggs thing I attended. It is definately a 'style' of existing that has an opposite i.e. people who want a list of step 1 - 10 with no idea where it leads, no underlying theory.




I think our approach to the world would lead us to do well at crafts as well. Detail work requiring skill, patience and often some original, creative thinking. I assume the demand for small-scale crafts would sky-rocket in a post-industrial world. Isn't this how it used to be? I sometimes have an urge to do some kind of craft, but I have no idea what. I've take onboard (wrongly, but deeply) the idea that crafts are somehow 'for girls', so I've always just ignored them.

One further thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned is that much of the world hasn't even really started an 'oil based' lifestyle yet. Wouldn't they be the least affected by declining oil?

The Transition Towns scheme has a list of "Resistance Indicators" which they use to build up a picture of how much any town/village is likely to withstand external impact from Peak Oil, and which becomes a guide to the changes necessary for transition/survival. I gave some examples of such indicators on page two.

In some areas I would say you are right, but not in others.

For instance although in many parts of Africa and South America they recycle a lot, ( and depend on that for many things ), they mainly recycle other, richer/developed countries people's rubbish. And although many areas still grow more of their food locally they often suffer from drought, ( that is they have poor/unreliable local water resources ). And hasn't one of the regular criticisms of Aid Programmes been that in many cases they simply make the population receiving aid more and more dependent on outside help?

On the other hand developing countries haven't yet experienced the huge de-skilling that the West/developed countries have.

It would be interesting to see a "resistance indicators picture" of places in the developing world for comparison. And maybe learn something from those with high scores.

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I have just noticed another reason why Pluto might represent petroleum/oil; the history of human discovery/categorisation of Pluto roughly parallels that of petroleum use.

The existence of Pluto was first suspected in the mid to late 1800s, at almost the same time as the first commercial oil wells were sunk in Russia and the USA. In 1909, ( one year after cars were first mass produced and petroleum consumption began its dramatic increase ), its existence was virtually established. It was officially recognised as a planet in 1930.

And a couple of years ago, at about the same time as some people and govts began to take the theory of Peak Oil, ( the end of cheap oil ), seriously, Pluto was declared a dwarf, ( lesser ), planet.

So its entry into Capricorn, ( the sign of sober responsibility and restraint for those who missed my OP ), in late 2008, is almost certainly a sign that Peak Oil has happened/is happening now, and that serious restriction/rationing etc in that area will be not only necessary, but unavoidable.

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An absolutely brilliant site about Peak Oil, ( with masses of research/studies, etc on one of its boards ), is "Peak Oil" at:

http://peakoil.com/index.php

And the board with all the info/data on is at:

http://peakoil.com/forum47.html

What do peak-oilists have to say about fuel produced from coal?

That is a very expensive, and polluting, ( would increase global warming ), method of scraping the barrel.

Was thinking; another reason, ( in addition to slower quieter lives ), why Peak Oil might spell improvements for AS is because food which has to travel hundreds or thousands of km to get to the shop near you will become prohibitively expensive.

People will have to start growing their own fruit, vegetables, salad etc again, and highly sugared, highly processed foods, will become "luxuries".

And this "enforced" change in diet, from large amounts of processed/refined, hi-sugar, etc, food to fresh, local, unprocessed/unrefined fruit and vegetables, would probably be very good for AS mental health and cognitive functioning.

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you write a very well reasoned argument here. It's interesting to read. However, doesn't this also fit in with the huge doomsday theory, whatever that is? :S oh dear
can you predict the date?

Let us know when you're flight home to reality is taking off.

Pardon me, but that sounds more like the concern of environmentalists. One person can certainly belong to both parties, as you obviously do, but isnt the peak concern of a group espoused in its title or description?

Peak Oil:
1. We are running out.
2. What can we do about it?
3. We need to adapt!

Eco/environmentalist:
1. we are running out of pollutants.
2. Hooray!
3. Promote extended means of green living.

Which part did you find unbelievable/"unrealistic"/non-credible?

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Aparently Pluto was by in 1986 when Tchernobyl and a lot of destructive events happened (such as the Challenger space shuttle exploding), it's also my birth year btw (hint hint). Because you see, according to Pluto, things must be destroyed to start anew ;p

^
Agrees
theres no logic at all!! ! behind it it was just a way the greeks classified stars...

How absurd to notice similar symmetry in the way an atom and a solar system work....the micro and the macro....And that this symmetry should have relevance to our consciousness..tch..tch.....From both the quantum level and the Solar level....Quanta are affecting everything we are on the subatomic level, and Solar System is affecting everything we on the Solar level...The micro and the macro are inseparable, and they've got us sandwiched inbetween like a vice.... However that couldn't possibly have bearing on our consciousness now... could it? That no part of the cosmos is bereft of consciousness....can you imagine it? Or more to the point, can you imagine quantum physicists telling you it is the truth, get used to it?

Can you be absolutely certain that angular momentum of the planets, the Sun's gravity, plus the other physical laws at the foundation of our Solar System--have no effect on our consciousness? Do you know how quanta communicate with each other? Hahaha....dream on....We don't know squat about the things we so arrogantly claim to know everything about...


hmmm...now where did I place that Flame Shield..


edited..

Last edited by alba on 12 Mar 2009, 5:39 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Reminds me of the Mandelbrot set images that used to be all the rage. You go deeper and deeper in and all you find is the same pattern repeating. As above, so below.



Yeah but now we have MTV and the Internet, we can live without all that. Not forgetting that we live our lives by science now, and science always points out the correct way and that what we believed yesterday was wrong. Maybe what we see depends not on what's there, but who's doing the looking.



I used to read a lot about Sufism. And often came across the idea that humans lived in an 'upside down world where wrong was right and right was wrong'. I thought at the time it was just a slightly amusing metaphor. Not at all, it's a clear description of the mindset we inhabit.

We are made of dust and starlight.