this letter is either a fake or the letter writer is an arrogant jerk-off whose worries are no more important than yours or mine. to echo an earlier post, if this guy's so smart, why the hell is he writing into Salon's equivalent of Dear Abby? maybe he should go speak to his old quantum mechanics professor for advice?

and in my experience, when a person talks about "black hole", "quantum mechanics", and "physics" when he's trying to explain to you how smart he is, usually that person is an idiot who knows nothing about those topics.

whoever wrote this letter is clearly someone who wants to grab your attention by making an argument that goes something like this: "i'm very smart, and i'm worried, so you you should be worried too."

there are people much smarter than this letter writer and they're not worried.

don't worry, the human race will manage just fine.

Too many responses, too many opnions, too many people...

I've started to write a letter of apology to my grand-daughter. She will have to live through this mess, when the imperative of quarter by quarter growth hits the inevitable mathematical limit.

LW claims to be able to make integrated circuits - but he can't - noone can. Only corporations, teams of people, building on previous knowledge, with intricate machines built by other teams, with metals and chemicals refined by yet others can achieve that.

So? We are animals, we are tribal, we are territorial. For some evolutionary reason we have a weird god-seeking "thing". We choose leaders, by whatever method, who are tall, strong and bark the loudest at our tribal enemies. Can we direct our own evolution into something self-sustaining? Or do we overbreed and then fall like so many other animals before us?

It's very hard for anyone who has lived in America all their lives to realize that war, death, hunger, disease, poverty and all the other bad things of the human condition are normal. America has not had a war on it's soil since the Civil War. Maybe the next one, over water or land or which "god" is preferable, is not so far away.

But I digress; yes it's a mess - we'll presumably muddle on and if not then the planet will continue - we can't "destroy the planet" - not yet anyway - and something else will evolve. There's plenty of time, and we've had the priviledge of our few seconds of consciousness.

People have faith in God, in politicians because it is easy, because sometimes accepting reality is just too damn hard. You, LW, seem to be of above average intelligence and are able to rationally perceive how things work and how they fail. Dispondent as you may be, I am also going to assume that you have given a certain amount of thought to how these concerns could be rectified. The average person can barely get their head around what is truly the matter, let alone how to overcome society's ills. Rather than end up in a fetal position in a dark corner, most would rather turn a blind eye. There is a reason that those with particularly high intelligence are less likely to believe the lies- you simply don't need it.

You have several choices: cultivate your own faith and willingly injest the "opiate of the masses", neglect god and turn to drink or go out there and do something, anything to make a difference. Few others can. Do it for your daughter, do it for the unthinking masses, do it because the true alternative should be incomprehensible even for you. At best, we will most likely be prolonging the inevitable, but some of us would still like to go down swinging.

What's odd is that the LF lays out his credentials so thoroughly before laying his soul bare (if he'll pardon the expression). Many of us struggle with the same conclusions without being able to evaluate the evidence personally.

Great response, Cary. Go rest on your laurels.

Though the LF writes of having studied the great religions and philosophies, I agree with other responders that his understanding of faith seems constricted. I have a growing interest in Taoism. It seems to me that placing myself in harmony with the way of things is not at odds with the insights of science. One can practice acceptance while working for change. I imagine that sounds trite to some, but I'll take that chance. An emotional cripple is of no use to anyone, whether it's me or a bonafide genius.

Hello, One-Eyed Man.

I, too, have been feeling the despair for a long time. Like you, I too am trained as a scientist and have degrees in difficult fields (Physics, Philosophy, and multiple professional certifications). I also have studied much history, and have done many things in my life (also flying planes, as a matter of fact).

On the other hand, I am truly amazed and pleased to be alive, and to be alive when many humans can live full, incredibly rich mental and emotional lives without being a member of one of the few richest families (these were the only people who could live a life such as yours and mine for most of the history of the human race).

Now, to the topic of the day: For Cary and those readers of your post who think that we are in no different a situation than in many crises of that past, I suggest more *actual* *study* of the data regarding the current state of the environment and our life within it. In fact, we have about 8 years to implement dramatic decreases in carbon dioxide (and other human-activity-related) greenhouse gas emissions, or we will destabilize the methane hydrates stored in the cold North oceans. Methane is a *much* ‘worse’ greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The last time this ‘stored’ methane was released into the atmosphere, the result was a planet about 25 degrees hotter than now. That would mean the end of civilization as we presently know it. (Want to learn more about this? See the NOVA program titled "Dimming the Sun" -- orderable from them for about $20.)

Unfortunately, human beings are no 'better' than we are. I think it unlikely (to the point of absurdity) that we, as an entire species, can and will make sufficient changes in our lives to avoid the looming climate/oil disaster.

I personally have been struggling with how to cope with all of this knowledge and despair for several years now. Here's what I've found enables me not only to survive, but also to have long times when despair is held far, far away from my heart:

1. Work to increase knowledge of the seriousness of the situation amongst your friends, family, and larger communities.

2. Take practical steps towards supporting Economic Localization in your community (the more things we need and produce locally, the less oil is needed to grow, make, and ship them to us). (Check out this site for an example of what communities are doing: www.coastlocalize.org.)

3. Especially focus on food: in one year the average American requires about two and a half times as much oil to grow and distribute food to them as they do to drive their cars. Support your local farmers (especially organic/natural ones, since their practices in turn require far less oil -- regular fertilizers/pesticides/herbicides are all oil-intensive products).

4. If possible, change what you do for a living to something that helps mitigate the disasters. (I personally am working on finally focusing on bringing to market items that I've invented/designed that are part of the solution to the climate and peak oil issues.)

5. REMEMBER TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE AS OFTEN AND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. Do things that feed your mind and emotions (or 'soul', for those who like that language). We are alive NOW, and that is, as Cary so rightly pointed out, simply AMAZING. It's so unlikely that we, each of us, is here at all! Statistically speaking, the odds against it (for more reasons than I will go into here), are truly astronomical.

Reminding ourselves of this, as Cary suggested so eloquently (whether through taking a vacation, or other actions) really does help: taking breaks from the despair gives us strength to do what we can do to mitigate the looming disasters.

It also makes simple sense: looking ahead can give us wisdom to adjust our direction. If it makes us just *stop,* then that does no good to anyone. It's the same as worrying about a loved one's death: there's time enough to grieve after they're gone--we don't have to make ourselves and those around us miserable by grieving ahead of time! (And I'll be damned if our human-friendly *environment* isn't a helluva loved one!)

I hope some of this may help you, One-Eyed. I also hope and encourage you to find things to do in your community and circle of influence that will help to mitigate the dire situation that we’re in. The more we can do now to redirect ourselves, and to prepare for hard times, the less severe the end result will be.

Daka