Who is Professor Thomas W. Murphy, Jr. and What Does He Know About Energy and Resource Decline?

 




I have mentioned Tom Murphy many times in this blog precisely because facts don't lie. If anyone wants to truly know where we are as a species on this planet, Tom can definitely tell you. Don't get me wrong, I can also tell you; but I'm not a physicist. Tom is one of the few individuals who has written a book about our predicaments and allowed free access to everyone. 

Tom has done far more than that, however. He has a website which has been a staple within the energy community for many years. He talks about our situation in this video and surprisingly thought the same way I did for many years regarding our future. He thought that we would develop various "renewable" technologies and that our future would be shiny and "green" so that BAU could continue unabated. I actually think a very large portion of society thinks the same way, and it is because they simply do not understand the laws of physics, thermodynamics, biology, and chemistry and how they intersect with human psychology, and how society operates within the confines of the systems we are all embedded within which seriously limit how we deal with these predicaments COLLECTIVELY. 

It is very difficult for the average person to gain a holistic perspective of what we're up against. The neat thing that Tom does is explain what IS and what IS NOT possible, based upon scientific FACTS. His website has absolutely FANTASTIC articles going into great detail about what are likely candidates to replace fossil fuels (SPOILER ALERT: No known energy source can even come close to replacing the energy density, portability, and flexibility in energy systems that fossil fuels provide AND every other source of energy that can be commercially available REQUIRES fossil fuels and the current infrastructural platforms provided courtesy of the fossil fuel platform in order to even exist). He also debunks common myths and replaces them with reality. 

Tom constantly explains the math behind these realities and provides computations in real world equations to give the reader actual problems to solve demonstrating how those problems can be utilized to comprehend the truth behind the predicaments we face. Some of Tom's information and knowledge presents itself in the blog routinely to point out the myths of space travel and colonizing other planets or mining celestial bodies for minerals or other resources. His information appears in my article about ramping up nuclear power and also my article What Would it Take for Humanity to Experience Radical Transformation?

Tom brings a much-needed look into human psychology in his book and has a section devoted to how we actually operate within society, the biophysical reality here on Earth, and the basic premises we utilize to make decisions and what these genuinely mean for our future here from section D.5.2 through D.6.1.

Chris Martenson interviews Tom in a video from 2012 titled, Time to Be Honest With Ourselves About Our Looming Energy Risks. 

Tom's latest blog post discusses another aspect of human psychology: hypocrisy. Most all of us who participate in discussions regarding ecological overshoot have experienced these same scenarios time and again with regard to folks who don't like the message of the inconvenient truths, quote: 

"Purveyors of unpopular messages are often scrutinized for any inconsistent, seemingly hypocritical behavior that might give lie to their preachings and be used to discredit the unwelcome perspective. A famous example is Al Gore’s heavy air travel schedule to spread the word and take action against climate change, resulting in an enormous CO2 footprint. If we all behaved that way, the very problem at hand would be substantially exacerbated.

Such accusations either knowingly or pathetically miss the obvious point that the net effect of Al Gore’s efforts may be positive owing to the simple idea of a lever: a little expenditure here can counteract vast expenditures elsewhere for an overall gain on the problem. For many, the glaring superficial contradiction is enough ammunition to discredit the entire enterprise."

A very worthy article applicable to most all of us!

Questions? Go here to read the first article in this blog which explains many different aspects of what these stories are about.

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