Stories tagged with addiction

Status and Curiosity - On the Origins of Oil Addiction

Posted by Nate Hagens on July 7, 2008 - 9:05am
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: addiction, aspiration gap, conspicuous consumption, discount rates, endowment effect, evolution, impulsivity, neuroscience, novelty, oil addiction, original, ratchet effect, reward, salience, status [list all tags]




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I am Human, I'm American, and I'm Addicted to Oil...

Posted by Nate Hagens on February 4, 2008 - 8:55am
Topic: Demand/Consumption
Tags: addiction, consumption, demand, dopamine, evolution, exponential growth, habituation, ipat, learning [list all tags]

ARE WE ADDICTED TO OIL?






An advertisement for BMW cars -and freedom, and power, and sex, and status.... (Click to enlarge)

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What does "Addicted to Oil" mean?

Posted by Yankee on February 6, 2006 - 9:15pm
Topic: Sociology/Psychology
Tags: addiction, george w. bush, peak oil, state of the union [list all tags]

I've been meaning to write a post about Bush's choice of words for a week now, but of course everyone has beaten me to it. Today, Dave Roberts of Gristmill has an insightful take on the issue:
When Bush talks about "addiction," the subtext is always his own carefully constructed personal narrative: The youthful alcohol problems and the redeeming power of Jesus and the love of a good woman. In Bush's campaign story, he was spiritually redeemed; he shook off addiction by improving his character. The subtext of America being "addicted" is that the American people are somehow fallen and weak.

But America does not rely on oil by virtue of any moral failing. It is not a weakness. It's simple prudence: For quite a long time now, oil has been an incredibly cheap, incredibly concentrated source of energy.

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