“Principles that define a worldview are "core values", like the core of an apple, the center of life. Various religions and philosophies have each their central tenets and their ideals for success. Do not dismiss them because they're attached to various traditions or organizations; the tenets themselves are the real determinants of results. Find persons who are living admirably; see what they believe and why they chose as they did. What have they learned? What regrets and joys do they have?

“Change happens to us anyway, prepared or not. The loss of crude oil will not be the easiest, but it can be dealt with. We have the examples of our forebears, and we have help. I'm using the core principles I learned to build a better life. It's working. It is the nature of information flow that the very cause of change is our strength to overcome and conquer. Our future is in our hands.”

The foregoing is a draft of the conclusion to my “peak oil” research paper. I had to submit the conclusion to Turnitin.com back in the day; it was an anti-plagiarism tool. So if you crib my conclusion and turn it in yourself, it will come up as not yours. I’ve already submitted it.

I was not particularly worried about the end of petroleum. I’m still not. My real concern is that people drift instead of living intentionally. If we don’t recognize changes happening, we’ll be blindsided by them. A better way to live is to learn to see patterns, listen to information from experts, and then decide for ourselves what we should do. Yes, the increasing cost and difficulty of obtaining petroleum is a concern, but it’s not the end of the world. We’ve met challenges before and overcome them. We can do so again. But not if we waste all our energy running in circles and doomscrolling.

Doomscrolling—what a term—increases fear. Fear leads to war, war over resources, war over access. War is unnecessary. We don’t have to feel terrified. There is enough and to spare; what we need is better, kinder distribution. Sharing, not hoarding; giving, not hiding; building up, not destroying. Good will win out in the end, not because it has the most petroleum nor because it has current information. Good will win because good people choose to work together. We don’t cheat. We don’t lie. We don’t steal. We help each other; we cohere. We stick together.