Talk:2500: Global Temperature Over My Lifetime

The DgbrtBOT seems to be broken again. I created the page for this comic, and the previous comic explanation was also created manually. Natg19 (talk) 18:00, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

Retired old guy here, I'm puzzled by the usage in the title text, "Then I realized, oh, right, of course." Is this meant to imply that Exxon controlled the use of petroleum over this time period, instead of just predicting the usage? 172.70.130.225 18:16, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

I think it just means that if anyone's going to have accurate data to predict petroleum use (such as supply levels), it would be a petroleum company.

I assume Randall realized hindsight bias was in play: that the report only became famous after it turned out to have predicted accurately. 162.158.88.203 19:48, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

I do not mean to argue any politics in this reply. I can relate that I have heard occasionally from people on both sides of political lines that the large energy corporations organise together to plan energy use and prices. I do not know whether that is true, and have not seen hard evidence of it. An economics professor told me it is obvious from the behaviors of the prices. Baffo32 (talk) 11:36, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

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--198.41.238.108 19:14, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

It seems like Randall has more serious issues on his mind than marking a meaningless milestone. Barmar (talk) 22:45, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

What's so 'milestoney' about the number 0x9C4? Maybe we could talk about this in another 0x63C comics...

(Also, as non-retired, but arguably being a well-beyond-middle-aged-guy chronologically if not mentally, this comic now makes me feel old. I thought Randall was maybe up to a decade older, much closer to my age.)

((Also also, how long before someone goes down the "climate is always changing!" line, conveniently forgetting about 1732?)) 162.158.159.97 23:42, 9 August 2021 (UTC)

I'm the opposite; this comic made me realise that Randall is closer to my age than I thought, as I'd assumed he was a bit older. I was born in 1991, so although I was younger at the time, most of the "climate change alarm" milestones are the same ones I remember. --Enchantedsleeper (talk) 10:03, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

Can I just point out to people that there are ok-ish ways and better ways to link to things? 141.101.76.21 00:17, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

The alt text states "I was really impressed by the accuracy of some of the report's predictions about fossil fuel consumption. Then I realized, oh, right, of course.". Why of course? 172.70.114.87 02:01, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

Probably because Exxon is also a player in the fossil fuel industry? Similar to Moore's law, from the co-founder of both Faichild and Intel? That might be a little of the conspiracy theory side, especially with the way it is phrased. Victor (talk) 08:58, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

Someone else asked the same question further up. And yeah, I wondered that too. This (from an unsigned contributor above) was my best guess too:

I think it just means that if anyone's going to have accurate data to predict petroleum use (such as supply levels), it would be a petroleum company.

--Enchantedsleeper (talk) 10:03, 10 August 2021 (UTC)