Energy Availability, Happines,
and Beating Peak Oil Depression
by Matt Savinar
I've long suspected that "happiness" is correlated in some way with increases in personal energy availability. Regardless of how high or low you are on the energy-totem pole, you feel happy if you perceive things are "looking up." Thus you feel happy if you are acquiring either:
A) access to more energy resources, or
B) greater social status within your "tribe", which will in turn
give you access to more energy resources
The faster they are moving up, the happier you feel. You feel depressed if you perceive things are at a standstill. You feel anxiety if you perceive things are moving backwards. Intuitively this makes sense as energy is the basis for life and your emotions likely evolved to help keep you alive. Thus, it's only logical that energy availability and emotional state are linked in some way.
Let's use an example from the real world: John Doe purchases a big house. As he is making the purchase, he feels excited. (Moving up in the world.) Once he has finished the purchase, the excitement begins to wear off. At first this may not make sense. After all, he has a giant house. Shouldn't he feel happy? No, because the feelings of happiness are predicated not on the absolute amount of status/energy John has but whether he is moving up, moving down, or at a standstill. Having now acquired the big house, his energy access/social status is again at a standstill. Thus, depression kicks in.
I don't know if this is the type of thing you can prove definitively but the following is an interesting data point from a recent Los Angeles Times article entitled "Utopia Lost":
According to the National Opinion Research Center, American
happiness peaked between the mid-1960s and 1973.
Of course, increases in per-capita energy availability were at their highest from 1950 to 1970. During these years the average American saw their access to energy increase by a whopping 48%!
Please note as this is a key point: the relevant data point(s) is not the absolute amount of energy but the amount of increase or decrease.
A. Increases in Energy Availabity 1950-to-1970
In 1950, the U.S. population was 152 million people. 34.62 quadrillion BTUs of energy were consumed that year. That's 223.7 million BTUs per person.
In 1970, the U.S. population was 205 million people. 67.84 quadrillion BTUs of energy were consumed that year. That's 331 million BTUs per person.
So from 1950 to 1970, the number of BTUs per person increased by a whopping 48%.
B. Increases in Energy Availabity 1970-to-1990
In 1990, the U.S. population was 250 million persons. 84.7 quadrillion BTUs of energy were consumed. That's 339 million BTUs per person.
So from 1970 to 1990, the number of BTUs per person increased by a paltry 2%.
C. Increases in Energy Availabity 1990-to-2004
In 2004, the US population was 293 million persons. 99.74 quadrillion BTUs of energy were consumed. That's 344.4 million BTUs per person.
So from 1990 to 2004, the number of BTUs per person increased by only 1.6%
Note: Energy stats from EIA, population stats from U.S. Census
If increases in personal energy availability and happines are indeed linked, it may come as little surprise that happiness peaked back around 1970 as that's around the time increases in per-capita energy availability peaked here in the U.S.
These numbers, however, don't control for a variety of factors, not the least of which is personal net-energy or EROEI. A good measure for that might be how many hours does the average person have to work to obtain a BTU of energy. If, for instance, the total number of BTUs available to you increases by 25% but only after you put in 100% more hours in the workforce, you might not be too happy about your situation. I suspect increases in personal net-energy availability are probably more closely related to happiness then just personal energy availability.
While I don't have the numbers here at my fingertips, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the average American has been working increasingly more hours per BTU of energy consumed since the 1970s. This seems to be what most people "feel" which is it has gotten harder to get ahead in America during the last 25-to-35 years. (If somebody out there wants to research the hours-per-BTU stats and post it in the comments section be my guest.)
Obviously, happiness is a complex concept. I'm not contending increases or decreases in per-capita energy availability are the only factor or even the determining one when it comes to happiness. Just pointing out I think there is some type of significant connection between the two.
This brings up another point I'm hoping to explore in more depth which is the "cure" to Peak Oil Depression (P.O.D.) I don't think it lays in being "prepared" in an absolute sense as none of us will ever feel truly prepared. (From the article in Fortune Magazine, even billionaire Richard Rainwater seems a bit unsure as to how to prepare himself for this situation.) Rather, the key to kicking P.O.D. is finding things that your subconscious perceives as improving your chances of survival (your energy availability) in a post-cheap oil world. If your subconscious perceives you are moving in an upwards direction, it will release the happy hormones like dopamine to keep you moving in that direction.
If it perceives you are at a standstill, it will cause you to feel depressed. This has the effect of temporarily shutting you down which prevents you from wasting any more energy/time on endeavors unlikely to improving your chances of survival. This I think is why so many people experience depression upon finding out about these matters. All of a sudden commuting two hours a day to a job likely to disappear in a post-cheap oil world doesn't seem like it's going to improve your chances of surviving. The solution is to find something, even a hobby or side job, that you percieve will benefit you in a post-cheap oil world. Obviously that is easier said than done as you are probably working more hours than ever just to put some BTUs on the plate.
That's my two cents on psychological preparation, buy with it what you can.
Research Credit for "Utopia Lost": Leanan of PeakOil.com
