Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil, Psychology, and the Myth of Progress Pdf
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FREE NOT THE FUTURE WE ORDERED: PEAK OIL, PSYCHOLOGY, AND THE MYTH OF PROGRESS PDF John Michael Greer | 158 pages | 28 Feb 2013 | KARNAC BOOKS | 9781780490885 | English | London, United Kingdom John Michael Greer - Wikipedia Feb 12, Book Review 0 comments. A voracious reader, a prolific writer, a Psychology thinker whose work is intermittently Psychology with delightful humor, Greer has become one of the most prominent and credible voices among those articulating the collapse of industrial civilization. Both works reveal a more profound engagement with psychology than may be found in previous offerings and deliver a style in Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil the cerebral is richly complemented by the soulful. Yet even through the energy challenges of the s, society ignored the science of Hubbard and succeeded only in mastering the defense mechanism of denial. Or as Greer notes:. It is one of the bitter ironies of recent history that the few decades of willful blindness bought by the political maneuverings of the early s comprised exactly the window of time that would have been needed to make a successful Psychology from fossil fuels to some more enduring energy source. The reality of peak oil necessarily compels society to ask questions of value—what is really important to us? And in so doing, we confront some of the central myths of our culture. When Greer uses the word mythhe is not using it in exactly the same way that many in the modern world use it, that is, as a synonym for untrue. Rather, he uses myth to describe the narrative of a culture or as I have often written, the old stories on which the paradigm of civilization is based. Central to the modern narrative is the notion of progress. And, the emotional ramifications of questioning progress or abandoning the myth altogether are enormous. In fact, much of Not The Future We Ordered is an explanation of the psychology of coming to terms with the end of progress. Greer does not write timidly about this. He lays out for the reader the social and individual implications of the disparity between the narrative of progress and the Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil that it is over:. The cognitive dissonance between the belief in progress and the experience of regress will thus no doubt result in some remarkable irrationalities— and, indeed, a case could be made that it has already done so, on the collective as well as the individual scales. What strikes me here is the likelihood of emotional breakdown in tandem with societal breakdown. People unravel as systems unravel. So where does society or the individual go from there? Greer concludes:. Eventually, as the myth of progress disproves itself, the great majority of people will be forced to abandon their belief in that myth and pass through a grieving process for a narrative that gave meaning to their lives, and for the glorious future of perpetual progress that will never be. And what is the nature of the grieving process to which Greer refers? Loyal readers of Greer will note that he has been writing about the five stages in relation to peak oil for some time. And while I agree that this model is not only appropriate but inevitable for those inhabitants of industrial civilization who do not die or go mad in the throes of a collapsing empire, I believe that much more needs to be stated specifically about what the five stages entail and how we move Psychology them intact. For example:. An article by Kubler-Ross and David Kessler describes denial:. This first stage of grieving helps us to survive the Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil. In this stage, the world becomes meaningless and overwhelming. Life makes no sense. We are in a state of shock and denial. We go numb. We wonder how we can go on, if we can go on, and the Myth of Progress we should go on. We try to find a way to simply get through each day. Denial and shock help us to cope and Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. There is a grace in denial. In relation to peak oil and the unraveling of society, for as long Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil possible, we deny that it is occurring. We minimize it, proclaim that technology will save us, and possibly project our woes on others as the cause of our adversity. When these tactics no longer work or prove futile, we are then confronted with the losses our predicament has dealt us, and we either choose to persevere, we have a psychotic break, or we decide to end our life. If we opt for perseverance, anger is inevitable. It is crucial to allow the anger to run its course but not run over other people. Anger is merely indicative of the enormous pain it conceals. It is also an empowering emotion, and when we allow it, we are likely to discover more options and tap into vast stores of emotional strength. Suppressing it is disempowering and is likely to leave us marinating in our pain. Feeling the anger liberates and unblocks Psychology psyche and body. It is a crucial step in the direction of healing and and the Myth of Progress forward to acceptance. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss. At first grief feels like being lost at sea: no connection to anything…. Suddenly you have a structure —your anger…. The and the Myth of Progress becomes a bridge over the open sea, a connection from you to them. It is something to hold onto; and a connection made from the strength of anger feels better than nothing. Often we Psychology to control things over which we have no control. A father may tell himself that if he just prepares sufficiently for a world where people are starving, he can guarantee that his family will never go hungry. Sometimes people subtly convince themselves that if they just solarize the house and buy a hybrid vehicle, they will be exempt from future energy depletion. But the pain of a society unraveling lasts a long time, perhaps for the rest of our lives. In fact, that pain is Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil very next thing that begs to be confronted consciously and courageously. Kubler-Ross chose to use this word, but we may also use the words sorrow or grief. When she refers to depression in this context, it is not synonymous with clinical depression although in my opinion, clinical depression often does result from unexpressed grief. Losing a way of life to which we have become accustomed and probably have lived with from birth is an enormous loss. We can also use the word mourning. Losses must be mourned, and we must allow ourselves to feel the sorrow. For this reason, grief work, in my opinion, is crucial preparation for navigating a future which is certain to confront us with a plethora of losses, Psychology unless we are willing to grieve them consciously, we are likely to be overwhelmed and emotionally engulfed by them. Rather, it means learning to live without what we have Psychology, learning to live in a new way, realizing that life without what we have lost is the new normal. We have good and bad days. We move forward with fits and starts. We come to appreciate our previously-untapped resilience, and dare I say, we may even experience unprecedented joy and contentment with our lives. One is a new definition of the word hope. Rather, it is the recognition that no matter what the circumstances might be, there are positive goals that can be achieved if they are pursued with forethought and a sustained willingness to try. These require commitment and a great deal of personal introspection, alongside dynamic engagement with the community in order to create more resilient lives. Yet as Greer draws the book to its conclusion he provides an invitation:. Having heard that, and done whatever grieving we need to do, we need to draw in a deep breath, accept Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil hard facts of our future, and make the best of the limited options the choices of the past have given us. That process could be greatly facilitated by therapists and other members of the helping professions who have come to terms with the realities of the present age and done their own grieving for the imaginary future promised Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil the myth of progress…. Your email address will not be published. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Not the Future We Ordered: Peak Oil a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. 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