Hmm Who Woulda Guessed?

Similar to a child putting in a game card into his GameBoy, playing the game and then eventually ridding it after it becomes boring, the acts of the human race placed industrialism onto this Earth. And following the same course, industrialism will be naturally discarded. However, in order for this game to be played, a certain amount of energy must be consumed; after which, it only a portion of the energy that was present before the game will remain. This process is one that cannot be avoided, for the reasons that it has already begun and that humans have become completely and utterly reliant on fossil fuel. And just as the source of fossil fuel is limited, this source of entertainment has a limited longevity, both of which will eventually lead to the collapse of industrialization.

Our exhaustion of fossil fuels is quite similar to the Easter Islanders' self-destruction through deforestation. In both scenarios, nature has to do some sort of adjustment in order to fit according to the human preferences. For the Easter Island, it is the cutting down of the trees to adjust to the humans' desire to create giant stone statues. In our modern society, the nature adjusts to the humans' desire for wealth, which I guess would be the same as the Easter Islanders' statues, by having its fossil fuel extracted. As the each group of people tries to "improve" and strives to outdo each other, there will be a greater consumption of resources. Being that our society has such similarities with the Easter Islanders it is difficult to see this as a model, showing that this path will only lead to the decline of our own civilization. In addition, "Polynesian Easter Island was as isolated in the Pacific Ocean as the Earth is today in space. When the Easter Islanders got into difficulties, there was nowhere to which they could flee, nor to which they could turn for help; nor shall we modern Earthlings have recourse elsewhere if our troubles increase. Those are the reasons why people see the collapse of Easter Island society as a metaphor, a worst-case scenario, for what may lie ahead of us in our own future" (Diamond, 20). Looking back at history, we can see a civilization's exhaustion of natural resources provided can only lead to its downfall. And while Diamond describes this as "worst-case scenario" that "may lie ahead of us," I would say that this is inevitable.

Jared Diamond also states that, "Thanks to globalization, international trade, jet planes, and the Internet, all countries on Earth today share resources and affect each other, just as did Easter's dozen clans" (Diamond, 20). Although we may share resources, the amount of resources remains limited regardless. And a continuing (exponential) growth requires a similar consumption of energy. Without this our civilization, following the idea of entropy, which states that everything will fall apart to the lowest level, will break down into a mere group of beings that share a similar body structure and set of skills. The "this" is the fundamental basis of our current economy, fossil fuel. And of course, fossil fuel has a limit that we will hypothetically, eventually meet. But according to "A Crude Awakening" and "Limits to Growth- Oil," we will not, for the simple reason that it will no longer be profitable to extract ("Within a couple of years, one barrel invested will only produce one barrel of oil!"). At that point, which will be approximately be when half of the Earth's oil supply is gone according to Hubbert, peak oil will be reached. The "production" of oil will be at its maximum, and steadily or rapidly decline. Regardless of the declining rate, oil production will surely end and so will our industrialized civilization, which heavily depends on the oil.

A civilization that runs on and is based on the consumption of fossil fuel is not a sustainable one, and is one that we live in. This industrialized civilization is bound to collapse and follow the path of the civilization that once inhabited Easter Island. The ultimate reality, nature will not be able to support it. Without the constant consumption of fossil fuel our civilization will not last, just like how without alkaline batteries the child will not be able to continue playing his game. Entropy will take place, and the simulation will break down into a blank screen of emptiness.