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How to Enjoy the End of the World

Sid Smith · 167.2K views · 2019-04-24 · 1:03:31

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Overview

A Virginia Tech presentation by Sid Smith about collapse, fossil fuels and overshoot, arguing that industrial civilization faces a decline and how one might live with that. It was later expanded into a video series.

On Hacker News

Recommended in collapse and energy threads as a sobering thermodynamic view of civilization, often with a warning that it is heavy.

Recommended by 4 HN people across 4 months · HN mentions 2019–2026

Topics

Futurism & technology and societyEarth & energy (other)Climate policy, solutions & debate
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collapsefossil fuelsovershootenergy returnsustainability

What people said

myshpa · 2023-07 · Strong recommendation

> Burn it all down and start over We won't be the ones doing that. > We're going to have to figure this sustainability thing out though It may be already late. I wish it wasn't so. I think we could have chance at repairing it ... if only we would do what's necessary. But we're not doing what's necessary, we never started even discussing it, and I'm starting to doubt that we'll ever do. We're talking only about climate change, but that's only one of the symptoms of the overshoot. Even people @ hacker news mostly don't have a clue. > we can't just ignore the problems We've been ignoring them for 50-70 years. The limits to growth / club of Rome was in 1972? So far ... we did nothing but ignored the problems. We may cross the 1.5C threshold in 5 years. Not in 2050 as previously expected, but in 5 years. And we're still pursuing economic growth. Have you noticed any evidence to the contrary lately? > it's going to be a big challenge, and things may get ugly I recommend few videos for you. I must warn you ... it may hamper your ability to enjoy parties. Collapse: The Only Realistic Scenario - Arthur Keller [LINK] How to Enjoy the End of the World - Dr. B. Sidney Smith [VIDEO] Arithmetic, Population and Energy - Dr. Albert A. Bartlett [LINK] Why Societies Collapse And What it Means for Us - Joseph A. Tainter [LINK] Revealing the Naked Emperor – Paris, 2° & Carbon Budgets - Kevin Anderson [LINK]

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M95D · 2026-01 · Recommendation

> Civilizational doom isn't a foregone conclusion See lecture by B. Sidney Smith: [VIDEO] . It explains the inevitablility of collapse.

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chacha2 · 2020-06 · Recommendation

> Computing saves millions of lives on a regular basis. Can't run modern agriculture or medicine or government without it. No, we couldn't have. Computing has killed us all. Good talk I watched the other day [VIDEO]

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Sources

Video by Sid Smith, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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