The Many Flavors of Doom

October 10, 2023

by Charles Hugh Smith Of Two Minds

Change the incentives and feedback loops and you change the flavor of Doom we’re about to be served.

There are many flavors of Doom, and new flavors are being introduced at a dizzying rate. We’ve gone from chocolate and vanilla (thermonuclear war and mass starvation) to if not quite 31 flavors, certainly a colorful array of options.

Climate change has been quite the rage (ahem), but war is rapidly increasing its share of the doom mindspace.

The competition includes both ends of the spectrum: Doom Porn and Empty Optimism. On the Doom Porn end, there’s the crowd favorites (Zombie Apocalypse, nuclear war Apocalypse, climate Apocalypse, etc.) which feature the complete collapse of human civilization, and on the other end, the magical thinking of Empty Optimism, which features fantasies of everyone flitting about in electrified car-helicopters and abundance so cheap that it’s basically free to the entire world.