Digg Users Clueless! Shock Stories and Gizmos trump Peak Oil!
Digg users are clueless about peak oil. Peak oil is the end of the world, and it is at our doorstep, so say the peak oil "doomers". Peak oil may simply cause everyone to go broke and lose their jobs say others. Still other voices suggest a series of recessions with high inflation and high unemployment might be the only impact.
Digg users, on the other hands, aren't concerned about the possible end of the world, the loss of their jobs, the evaporation of their savings, or the end of life as we know it. Instead, they happily click on the most unimportant, trivial, worthless articles possible.
In a recent review of the most dugg stories of the last year, here are some of the results...
* Hacking (i.e. 09-f9-11-...)
* Buy Something (Apple iPhone)
* Dead Person (James Kim)
* Dead Person (Steve Irwin)
* Dead Person (Saddam Hussein)
* Medical Error (Post-Birth Amputation)
* Hacking (Pirate Bay)
Perhaps Digg is a reflection on the general public -- not interested in the really big issues.
Entertain me. Give me free movies. Give me shocking stories. Give me a cool gizmo. Is that too much to ask from the world?
Peak oil, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. It is the real news that the world may be heading into something that has the potential to be worse than an all-out nuclear war. No fuel. No heat. No food. No security. Like being an American stuck outside Baghdad's green zone at night.
Is that for sure? Of course not. But the arithmetic is in, and things don't look so good.
Perhaps Digg users like the idea of surprises. Maybe they like high gas prices. Perhaps rising unemployment provides additional free time to find more stories about dead people, new products, and ways to get movies for free. It seems like avoiding bankruptcy might be a good thing, but perhaps Digg users like the outdoors, and don't mind living on the streets.
What is peak oil? Peak oil marks the end of growth of the most valuable substance after air and water... oil. Oil is liquid energy. It flows from the earth, into the veins of civilization. Peak oil is the point when the tap starts being slowly turned off. Less oil means less growth. Less growth means less jobs. Less jobs means unhappy, hungry, confused people.
I suspect that most Digg users are clueless about peak oil. If they weren't, then the following page would be on the top of their list...
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-283
This is the recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Agency that says we are in deep trouble, and need to act now, in order to avoid a "worldwide recession" (read as "next great depression").
If Digg users had a clue, I suspect they would have found and read this one...
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
... which explains in some very straightforward language what everyone should know about peak oil.
I don't know what Digg users are thinking when they click, but it certainly doesn't seem to be, "this is important that everybody read" but rather "woo hoo, that entertained me!"
Ah well, I admit it. I too am a Digg user. And I shouldn't be too tough on my fellow diggers. After all, everybody needs a place to be able to forget about reality for a while.
AND... everybody needs a place to be able to vent and exercise their right to free speech.
Digg users, on the other hands, aren't concerned about the possible end of the world, the loss of their jobs, the evaporation of their savings, or the end of life as we know it. Instead, they happily click on the most unimportant, trivial, worthless articles possible.
In a recent review of the most dugg stories of the last year, here are some of the results...
* Hacking (i.e. 09-f9-11-...)
* Buy Something (Apple iPhone)
* Dead Person (James Kim)
* Dead Person (Steve Irwin)
* Dead Person (Saddam Hussein)
* Medical Error (Post-Birth Amputation)
* Hacking (Pirate Bay)
Perhaps Digg is a reflection on the general public -- not interested in the really big issues.
Entertain me. Give me free movies. Give me shocking stories. Give me a cool gizmo. Is that too much to ask from the world?
Peak oil, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. It is the real news that the world may be heading into something that has the potential to be worse than an all-out nuclear war. No fuel. No heat. No food. No security. Like being an American stuck outside Baghdad's green zone at night.
Is that for sure? Of course not. But the arithmetic is in, and things don't look so good.
Perhaps Digg users like the idea of surprises. Maybe they like high gas prices. Perhaps rising unemployment provides additional free time to find more stories about dead people, new products, and ways to get movies for free. It seems like avoiding bankruptcy might be a good thing, but perhaps Digg users like the outdoors, and don't mind living on the streets.
What is peak oil? Peak oil marks the end of growth of the most valuable substance after air and water... oil. Oil is liquid energy. It flows from the earth, into the veins of civilization. Peak oil is the point when the tap starts being slowly turned off. Less oil means less growth. Less growth means less jobs. Less jobs means unhappy, hungry, confused people.
I suspect that most Digg users are clueless about peak oil. If they weren't, then the following page would be on the top of their list...
http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-283
This is the recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Agency that says we are in deep trouble, and need to act now, in order to avoid a "worldwide recession" (read as "next great depression").
If Digg users had a clue, I suspect they would have found and read this one...
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
... which explains in some very straightforward language what everyone should know about peak oil.
I don't know what Digg users are thinking when they click, but it certainly doesn't seem to be, "this is important that everybody read" but rather "woo hoo, that entertained me!"
Ah well, I admit it. I too am a Digg user. And I shouldn't be too tough on my fellow diggers. After all, everybody needs a place to be able to forget about reality for a while.
AND... everybody needs a place to be able to vent and exercise their right to free speech.