The World’s Coming Energy Catastrophe - Nate Hagens

We live as part of a system and the things that have been supporting the system since you and I have been alive are unlikely to continue for too much longer and so we're gonna have to change how we get our evolutionary neurotransmitters. The emotional states of our ancestors probably with using less energy and materials than we do today.

What I find particularly interesting about your work is that you're looking at energy, you're also looking at human flourishing, you're also looking at economics, you're looking at the past, the present, the future. Given the fact that many of the people listening won't be familiar with your world view and your work, what is important in the story of how we got here? So what do we need to know about our history before we can assess where we're at at the moment?

It's a big question. Uh, I think, uh, we live in a culture that focuses on technology and human ingenuity and money as the things that describe our wealth and our future trajectory. And I think, uh, culturally, educationally we misunderstand or fail to recognize the importance of ecology and energy to our lives. And, uh, we live as part of a system, so for the last 20 years I've tried to connect the dots of how the pieces of the human ecosystem fit together. Uh, you mentioned economy, which is technology and materials and energy and human ingenuity. There's also, uh, the environment and climate change and other species and biodiversity and ecosystem health. There's also anthropology and neuroscience, which I know you spend a lot of time on who we are as evolved, a- a- animals have arrived here after 300,000 years. But, um, because our- our brains and our bodies were shaped from the past and we are biological organisms and energy is the central currency in nature. Animals were the first investors. And we just think of investing money, but everything we do requires energy. Every single thing that ends up in a good or service that contributes to GDP, or gross domestic product, our, the size of our economy requires energy to invent, to mine the materials for it, to create, to distribute, to operate, to maintain, to fix, and to dispose of. Without energy all of our technology would just be sculptures. And so without energy our cities would be museums. And this makes sense, right, except we assume that we will have the energy we have now, uh, indefinitely and that's where the risk comes in. And I think, um, what's happening in Ukraine and Russia right now is causing people to become a little bit more aware of, "Oh my God, we're really dependent on energy." Well, in this case Germany and Europe are really recognizing what's- what's happening. So long story short, um, we live as part of a system and the things that have been supporting the system since you and I have been alive are unlikely to continue for too much longer and so we're gonna have to change how we get our evolutionary neurotransmitters. The- the emotional states of our ancestors probably with using less energy and materials than we do today.