peak technology

We, in the West strongly believe in technology. And technology has served us well. It has enabled us to rule the world -no need to be politically correct now, we all know we won (for now) and we are proud of it- and live like kings. In many ways we are the envy of the world and everyone around us is looking up at us and trying to emulate us. The latter may not be such a great idea, but it is heady and intoxicating anyways. It appears that Coca-Cola ads work even better in the slums of the Third World.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal today, Mr. Saleri, a former head of (oil) reservoir management for Saudi Arabia says it succinctly: "Technology matters. The benefits of scientific advancement observable in the production of better mobile phones, TVs, and life-extending pharmaceuticals will not, somehow, bypass the extraction of usable oil resources." Funny how Mr. Saleri thinks better mobile phones and TVs are what it is all about. Not to mention those life-extending pharmaceuticals ! Oh, the wonders of advertising.

But Mr. Saleri's piece also highlights the main problem with technology. His article by the way is entitled "The World has Plenty of Oil," and in it he reassures us that we can keep on wasting oil for at least "till the end of the century." Why me worry ?

Let's come back to the problem Mr. Saleri exposes. It is simply this: technology enables the more successful extraction of resources. It enables us to mine and use more things. And it does so very well. We are experts at extracting stuff from the earth. We can do it very cheaply -not counting some of the labor of course- and so we treat it as such too. It is cheap so why should we treat it as valuable or precious? Why conserve it?

Humans may have technology but we are like any other species. We reproduce and fill our niche. Then we strip it and when it finally collapses, we will go extinct. But before we get there, we grow and grow. And growing we have done. The world population has increased like wildfire. All of it thanks to technology. Technology that has given us oil, water in the desert, and high yield agriculture. All of it very cheap. And we have quickly produced more humans to take advantage of it all.

Unfortunately, there is one thing we always ignored. Our waste, the materials that we leave behind because we cannot use them. Our waste is growing faster than our population. That is because every human is a little multiplier. Every single one of us creates more junk. We now produce so much junk that it is starting to affect our health, and our food and energy supplies.

Greenhouse gases are warming the planet threatening our long term survival. Reservoirs are silting up or dwindling because of over-use. Our food supplies are becoming borderline. Fisheries are at capacity or in decline. Deforestation is rampant threatening land. Fertilizer and pesticide runoffs are destroying rivers and oceans. But we do have better mobile phones and TVs ! There you go. Virtual reality. We can all starve watching movies of lush forests, tranquil pastures and fish-rich seas.

Instead of peak oil, maybe we are at peak technology. Maybe we have reached a point where the harm done by technology is outweighing its benefits. Every single new invention that makes us more efficient at extracting stuff, also makes that stuff cheaper. And that compels us to use it every more wastefully and recklessly. Until we run out.