Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

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Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Mon Jan 12, 2026 12:48 am

Higgenbotham wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 3:10 pm At this point, we are close enough to collapse that preparing for collapse seems more important than trying to figure out the when and how.
Yesterday I started my tomatoes indoors.

Last year, I didn't want to spend much money until the garden proved itself out. Turned out I harvested about 200 pounds of tomatoes despite some severe flooding in early July which reduced my crop substantially. How much reduction is hard to say, but maybe half. That was good enough to justify spending some money. We're still using sauce but will probably run out this month. So I invested in a couple grow lights shown in the photo below ($150). Also bought 1,000 seeds of a variety that grew well ($94) and is known to be very disease resistant, which might be necessary if the same ground is used year after year.

However, I'm hoping that an heirloom variety that someone told me worked just as well here will eventually be what I use. He harvested 30 pounds per plant last year. That way I can save the seeds. So I'm trying those at a cost of $8 for about 27 seeds from the same source he used.

As far as the grow lights, I downloaded an app that measures something called ppfd which essentially measures how much light a seedling gets. Winter light supposedly will not give a seedling enough light but I suspect that is not entirely correct. There's a lot of bad information out there and I can be sure my grandmother in rural Nebraska wasn't using grow lights. But I can't ask her because she's been dead for 35 years and is the last one in my lineage who knew how to do this. Hopefully, I can find a very old person around here who knows. I'll also be exploring alternatives to using grow lights such as outdoor cold frames but that's for another day.

As mentioned, I am trying to use as little plastic as possible in the garden. You see the paper milk cartons in the picture below. Problem is, I belatedly discovered that those paper milk cartons are not just paper, they are coated inside and out with a thin layer of polyethylene. So back to the drawing board on that one. I thought they were coated with wax, but that was only true decades ago. I read the wax was discontinued sometime in the 1940s. Also, paper cups and paper plates are coated with polyethylene and those cardboard oatmeal containers have a thin sheet of plastic in them too. I discovered that years ago when I put one of them in a worm bin to decompose it.

I'm willing to go high tech if it pays out but also want to know how to dial it back to dark age tech if need be.

Image

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Sun Jan 11, 2026 4:19 pm

Higgenbotham wrote: Sun Jan 11, 2026 3:18 pm One time, he commented that his friend Buffet would not have done well during prehistoric times by shouting at a predator, "I allocate capital well."
Warren’s success:
- “I was born wired to allocate capital well.” If I was born in Bangladesh and I walked down
the street explaining that “I allocate capital well”, the townspeople would say “get a job”.
- Bill Gates says that if I was born 1000 years ago, I wouldn’t survive because I am not fast or
strong. I would find myself running from a lion screaming “I allocate capital well!!”
https://tilsonfunds.com/BuffettVanderbi ... !%E2%80%9D

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Sun Jan 11, 2026 3:18 pm

“My answer is this: I am still an optimist because I see what innovation accelerated by artificial intelligence will bring.”
Artificial intelligence won't likely even slow aquifer depletion or many other similar negative trends. During the maintenance phase of this declining civilization he did a lot to slow the decline. But as the new dark age takes hold, it seems his relevance is drawing to a close. One time, he commented that his friend Buffet would not have done well during prehistoric times by shouting at a predator, "I allocate capital well."

This was written 12 years ago and it only seems the negative trends have accelerated.
Higgenbotham wrote: Wed Jun 11, 2014 7:40 pm Bill Gates and others say this is not like Roman times because of all the great technology we have. To that point, let's talk about some of this great technology and how it relates to the drawdown of the resource. I only see technology that works to draw the resource out faster; for example, irrigation in the Midwest that draws down the aquifers, or fracking that draws down the oil resource. Both of these then allow the renewable resource excess extraction rate to be maintained at a higher level than would otherwise be possible. There does not exist any great technology which is putting water back into aquifers or increasing stores of liquid fuels (unless it depletes the other resources - ethanol for example). Most of the enhancement of soil is done with fossil fuel derived products.
Although deforestation has slowed by about an estimated 15% in recent years.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by FullMoon » Sun Jan 11, 2026 1:05 pm

Bill Gates warns the world is going ‘backwards’ and gives 5-year deadline before we enter a new Dark Age
https://fortune.com/2026/01/09/bill-gat ... dark-ages/
“The next five years will be difficult as we try to get back on track and work to scale up new lifesaving tools,” Gates continued. “As hard as last year was, I don’t believe we will slide back into the Dark Ages.”

I thought you'd like the title of this article but it seems like click bait. Haha. Gates is probably a eugenicist and probably wants government rather than himself to cause death and destruction for the unwitting.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by FullMoon » Sun Jan 11, 2026 12:56 pm

If the above is predictive in any way, though, it will be true that we have a good 10 years to run before food prices and food shortages become a really major issue. Silver and real estate in that town bumped along at pretty low prices for a decade before finally making their major move. This year I grew about 3% of our family's food and my goal for next year is 8%. It may be 10 or 20 more years before many people say that good home grown food is wealth in a way, as in an investment in their family's health and future well being.
I think it will be sooner than that and much more drastic. It will come as such a surprise that most people will literally have no idea what to do.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by tim » Sat Jan 10, 2026 12:29 pm

https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/s ... es-a-young
SHOCKING: Canada Euthanizes a Young & Healthy 26-Year-Old for 'Depression'

After one physician refused to administer the lethal injection saying he was “too young and healthy” to die, the state ultimately approved his euthanasia anyway.
Canada’s assisted-death regime has crossed another disturbing line.

According to his mother, a 26-year-old man previously rejected for euthanasia by a doctor who deemed him “young and healthy” was later killed through the government’s MAiD program for depression despite family pleas, prior safeguards, and an official ban on euthanasia for mental illness.

Her account raises urgent questions about medical ethics, legal loopholes, and whether vulnerability in modern Canada is now met with care, or with death.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Fri Jan 09, 2026 3:10 pm

I still think it's much more likely that the financial system hits the brick wall first, then things wind down from there. That would imply sooner than 15 to 35 years out but less catastrophic. At this point, we are close enough to collapse that preparing for collapse seems more important than trying to figure out the when and how.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Fri Jan 09, 2026 2:51 pm

Theoretical Physicists Say 90% Chance of Societal Collapse Within Several Decades
By Nafeez Ahmed
July 28, 2020
Two theoretical physicists specializing in complex systems conclude that global deforestation due to human activities is on track to trigger the “irreversible collapse” of human civilization within the next two to four decades.
The paper is written by Dr Gerardo Aquino, a research associate at the Alan Turing Institute in London currently working on political, economic and cultural complex system modelling to predict conflicts; along with Professor Mauro Bologna of the Department of Electronic Engineering at the University of Tarapacá in Chile.
Both scientists are career physicists. Aquino has previously conducted research at the Biological Physics Groups at Imperial College, the Max Planck Institute of Complex Systems and the Mathematical Biology group at the University of Surrey.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/theoret ... l-decades/

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Thu Jan 08, 2026 3:56 pm

Thirty years ago, plus or minus, I thought things like silver and real estate were good ways to build wealth. I was reminded of that during two recent conversations.

The first was with a man around age 65 who is invested in silver. He said that he wished he had picked up on silver being a good buy a long time ago but he wasn't aware of it. I told him that I had been interested in silver in the 1990s but no longer am. Silver recently passed $75, a new record high. I told him that I am now interested in producing my own food and that I feel food shortages are coming long term. He gave me a rather blank look. That was when I realized that even if I had mentioned silver to him back at $5 I would have received the same blank look, as I recognized that same look in people I had talked to about silver back at that time.

The second was with a man around age 50 who is interested in real estate. He said that if he can just find a way to get a hold of enough real estate he would have it made long term. I told him that I had bought some real estate back in the 1980s in a town where it was really cheap. Since Zillow, etc., are now available, we looked at two of the houses I had purchased back then that had sold recently. One that I purchased for $11,500 had recently sold for $165,000. As we looked through the pictures, it was evident that essentially nothing had been done to the house since I had upgraded it. A second house that I had purchased for $15,900 had recently sold for $225,000. As we looked at these I told him that I am no longer interested in real estate. My latest interest is gardening because I believe the price of food is going to increase more and more and that eventually food shortages are coming. He ignored that and went back to talking about real estate.

If the above is predictive in any way, though, it will be true that we have a good 10 years to run before food prices and food shortages become a really major issue. Silver and real estate in that town bumped along at pretty low prices for a decade before finally making their major move. This year I grew about 3% of our family's food and my goal for next year is 8%. It may be 10 or 20 more years before many people say that good home grown food is wealth in a way, as in an investment in their family's health and future well being.

Re: Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

by Higgenbotham » Tue Jan 06, 2026 12:37 pm

dominant milankovitch cycle

AI Overview

The dominant Milankovitch cycle driving ice ages has shifted over time, with the ~41,000-year obliquity (axial tilt) cycle dominant for much of the last 2.5 million years, but the ~100,000-year eccentricity (orbital shape) cycle became dominant in the last 800,000 years, influencing glacial periods.

While all three cycles (eccentricity, obliquity, precession) affect incoming solar radiation, the 100,000-year eccentricity cycle, linked with precession (~20,000 years), now paces major ice ages, despite the 41,000-year tilt cycle still playing a role.

Key Milankovitch Cycles

Eccentricity (Orbit Shape): Changes Earth's orbit from nearly circular to slightly elliptical over ~100,000 and ~400,000-year cycles, affecting total solar energy received.
Obliquity (Axial Tilt): Varies Earth's axial tilt (related to seasons) every ~41,000 years, altering summer/winter intensity.
Precession (Axial Wobble): Earth's slow wobble changes the timing of seasons relative to its orbit, with cycles around ~19,000-26,000 years (often simplified to ~20,000 years).

Dominance Over Time

Before ~800,000 years ago: The ~41,000-year obliquity cycle seemed to pace ice ages.
Last 800,000 years: The ~100,000-year eccentricity cycle became the primary driver for glacial-interglacial cycles, often working with precession.

Why the Shift? (The 100,000-Year Problem)

While the 41,000-year tilt cycle is strong, the ~100,000-year eccentricity cycle's dominance for the last million years, despite its weaker direct effect, is known as the "100,000-year problem".
The interplay of these cycles, particularly how eccentricity modulates precession's influence on high-latitude summer insolation, drives the larger ice age patterns, notes Skeptical Science.
There might be something similar happening with the generational cycles. The 80 year cycle has been dominant. The most recent crisis concluded in 1945. After nearly 20 years of extend and pretend, it appears the current crisis may just be getting started.

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