[jordanpg]

Of course, there is a non-trivial cost to spending time dealing with this stuff, particularly the less likely outcomes.

As with any risk assessment, one has to judge the probability of certain events and act accordingly.

The thing that bugs me about this culture -- and I don't include the author of this piece, who sounds imminently rational and level-headed -- is that a lot of people in this space seem to want these outcomes. In some extreme cases, they relish it or see it as a forgone or morally good outcome.

We should be putting most of our energy into avoiding catastrophic scenarios, and making these outcomes less and less feasible. But I fear that it is increasingly difficult for people across the political spectrum and below a certain socio-economic line to not be extremely cynical about society, and therefore the future. The result is "prepping" getting more attention than building a better world.

[irrational]

But, many of the catastrophic scenarios are nature-made instead of man-made. I’m not aware of any way to avoid volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, drought, etc. unless you are suggesting that everyone move to someplace where none of these things can exist.

[teddyh]

Yup. Also people who write things like CollapseOS, and many HAM radio people. They fantasize about being relevant and important, and their hobby is a way to indulge in those fantasies. No wonder they secretly want the worst to come to pass – it’s the actual point of it all.

[Trasmatta]

That's why I can't spend time on places like the Collapse subreddit. There are many people that fetishize the idea. This clouds their judgment and predictive power, and you see so many poor predictions of outcomes of world events there.

[poulpy123]

I've noticed (from an external point of view) that 1/ many people use it for some kind of escaping (myself somewhat included) 2/ Fantasize about being the hero of a post-apocalyptic novelbut IRL

[dmje]

You put that beautifully - it really is the case that "normal" preppers seem to be totally relishing becoming the next Mad Max hero, roaming the wilderness with their stash of weaponry...

What's really great about this piece apart from the fact it isn't this ^ is that it is beautifully written...

[hef19898]

I always wonder how many of those preppers have the actual skil, and yes gear, to roam the country side for long. Orientation, navigation, endurance, you name it. I'll take any long distance hiker for tjose scenarios than some wpuld be prepper siting on a stash of gear that would need a small truck to haul around.