Peak Oil: Ignorance and Arrogance, a Dangerous Concoction

Ignorance is where we all begin. It is forgivable -- assuming that a person is willing to learn.  But combine ignorance with arrogance and the result is a dangerous concoction. Earlier today the topic of Peak Oil came up in a conversation and to my astonishment someone claimed two incongruous notions -- that not only were they not worried about Peak Oil... perhaps those who know little about it honestly feel this way... but this person also claimed to: "Know all there is to know about Peak Oil."

That is a dangerous mindset. A closed mind combined with false confidence or perhaps blind faith. This may even be a popular stance, given the general lack of familiarity with peak resources.  The individual who made this outrageous statement of omnipotent awareness of -- and lack of concern over the dire situation humanity is about to enter, even claimed to be a scholar of history. Apparently the fall of myriads of civilizations due to resource depletion such as soil erosion, were never discussed at his school. Now I might expect such a distressing combination of ignorance and arrogance from an economist, or a corporate hack, but from a student of history...!

The problems of peak resources will be profound now, no matter what we do... but we could probably still soften the impact if enough people understand what is going on... and took the right steps. However, conversations like the one I had today, and the realization that such a stance is the dearly held opinion of the majority,  put any such hopes in the improbable category, at best.  I still can't quite believe I actually heard someone say, out loud, that they: "Know all there is to know about Peak Oil." and that they "were not worried about it." We're doomed.