World Without Oil - Coming April 30

Posted on March 7, 2007
Filed Under Creativity, Deep Thought, Fun on the Web, Games

Another ARG, due to start on April 30, 2007. Less of a game and more of a collaborative thought experiment. A what if game, where the players are challenged to find ways of reducing the impact of an ‘Oil Shock’. Could end up bogged down in flights of science fiction or could actually come up with some decent ideas for use in the real world.

I generally don’t hold with the views of the environazis, and feel that their collectivist approach to the problems facing our environment leave alot to be desired. What really galls me about their attitude is the whole ‘Lets save the planet’ war cry. Lets be honest here, the planet does not need saved, it has weathered worse disasters than us and will probably be here for a long time after we’ve gone the way of the dinosaurs. It is the height of arrogance to presume that we mere biological accidents have it within our power to destroy a planet. We may destroy ourselves and a good portion of the life on the planets surface but the planet itself would be largely unharmed. And life would come back, there is no way we could sterilise every microscopic nook and cranny so that there was absolutely nothing alive on Earth.

What the environazis are really saying when they say ‘Lets save the planet!’ is ‘Lets save ourselves’. The only way to do that is through the liberal use of technology, science, and industry. Three things which are blamed for the current state of our environment.

Yes, we have fucked up our planet royally, and yes, it is a problem of our own making, so it follows that it is our responsibility to fix it if possible, but equally it is our responsibility to adapt to it if we can’t fix it. The planet can look after itself, humanity can do the same. Survival is the primary goal of any lifeform, from bacteria, all the way up to yours truly. We will evolve in line with that goal, biologically, socially, and technologically. If we really fuck up and vanish in a warm cloud of radioactive ash, the planet will go on and maybe cockroaches will evolve into the next great civilisation.

That being said, I’m going to be keeping an eye on this ‘World Without Oil’ ARG it has the potential to develope some interesting ideas. I may even poke some environazis and see what they do