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142 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 7 Sep \ on: Hydrocarbons and Human Flourishing AskSN
Its hard to say if it will hold. I think the answer is in another question. Have we found a better source for the material and energy of our societies. I don't think we have yet. Maybe we are in the early stages but I think it's too soon to say with confidence.
Yeah just assuming humans keep finding new, more powerful sources of energy has me skeptical that this trend will hold... but I'm also skeptical that energy usage will continue to be so strongly correlated to human flourishing.
For almost all of human history, we have struggled to secure enough resources on demand, and more energy usage typically meant more likelihood of securing those resources.
But this is the first generation ever where we're truly living in a world of abundance. The issue (for nearly everyone in the developed world) isn't a lack of food, water, shelter, etc. More energy doesn't pack the same punch it used to.
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Don't ignore the material part, though.
Even after we've found superior energy sources, hydrocarbons will still be heavily used to produce stuff. And, since they have fairly unique material properties, I don't think that will just be correlation either.