How realistic is "Global Peak" series now? (2021)

[Battlehymn Republic]

Global Peak was a fictional universe created by Duchess of Zeon back in 2007-2009, a vivid post-apocalyptic world after Peak Oil.

I made a thread in December 2015 soliciting opinions about it. I remember back in 2008 I found the whole project to be vividly appalling about the breakdown of the U.S. and the world as we know it, but also grimdark, even edgelord at times.

Looking back at the 2015 thread, I felt pretty dismissive about the work for its portrayal of the future, especially since fracking basically pushed out peak oil for who knows how long, and solar and battery technologies have subsequently caught up. But alas, fracking came at the price of accelerating climate change (so perhaps the Global Mean Temperature story will prove to be more lasting).

All of the peak oil stuff aside, I'm struck by how Global Peak at times convincingly depicts the political and societal breakdown of the U.S. Turns out you don't need gas to stop flowing to sic Americans against each other; social media and traditional propaganda does a fine job of it already. It's in the American spirit to be polarized and paranoid. You toss in a different global crisis and see the wheels start spinning off.

So yeah, how does that story's portrayal of a future heading towards collapse feel relative to these times? Wish someone could write a spiritual successor to it.

[LadyTevar]

Trolling off-topic post removed.

[MKSheppard]

Trolling off-topic post removed.

I'd like to point out that Elongated Muskrat is/has:

1.) Pushing forward electricified vehicles (including semitrucks) at a rapid pace.

2.) Pushing forward solar technology, and the large scale battery capacity to store said solar energy at a rapid pace -- Tesla has applied to be an utility in Texas; and they have large scale battery farms in existence in Australia.

3.) Donated $100 million towards an X-Prize to develop commercially feasible carbon capture technologies -- isn't one of the problems we face with global warming, increasing carbon in the atmosphere?

4.) Pushing forward space travel technology at a rapid pace in a South Texas town called Boca Chica.

As a bonus, in the now-deleted image in my original post, he's doing it while looking like a Bond villain as well.

[Vendetta]

If the last 5 years have taught us anything, reality will be far dumber than anything that was imagined before 2016.

[montypython]

If the last 5 years have taught us anything, reality will be far dumber than anything that was imagined before 2016.

It's also why I find humor to be more accurately predictive than drama (The Simpsons, Futurama, Calvin and Hobbes etc. being big examples of this).

[LadyTevar]

Trolling off-topic post removed.

I'd like to point out that Elongated Muskrat is/has:

1.) Pushing forward electricified vehicles (including semitrucks) at a rapid pace.

2.) Pushing forward solar technology, and the large scale battery capacity to store said solar energy at a rapid pace -- Tesla has applied to be an utility in Texas; and they have large scale battery farms in existence in Australia.

3.) Donated $100 million towards an X-Prize to develop commercially feasible carbon capture technologies -- isn't one of the problems we face with global warming, increasing carbon in the atmosphere?

4.) Pushing forward space travel technology at a rapid pace in a South Texas town called Boca Chica.

As a bonus, in the now-deleted image in my original post, he's doing it while looking like a Bond villain as well.

Again, Shep, this is OFF TOPIC. This has nothing to do with Global Peak.

[Gandalf]

The Musk of it all does make me curious. Did that fic depict any sort of large scale adoption of electric vehicles like we're seeing in some bits of the world?

[Battlehymn Republic]

The Musk of it all does make me curious. Did that fic depict any sort of large scale adoption of electric vehicles like we're seeing in some bits of the world?

Not at all, I'm pretty sure; the central conceit of the fic is that peak oil screws over the world.

[Coop D'etat]

The Musk of it all does make me curious. Did that fic depict any sort of large scale adoption of electric vehicles like we're seeing in some bits of the world?

Not at all, I'm pretty sure; the central conceit of the fic is that peak oil screws over the world.

Turns out we're more likely to have a problem with forcing the stuff to stay in the ground rather than running out.

Joining a long tradition of underestimating how well the modern industrial economy adjusts to resource constraints.