This is very readable, stimulating essay on how the preference for mental over manual labour will influence coming social choices when fossil energy depletion becomes a problem.

While I of course broadly agree with this preference, I do have a fear that the author absolutizes this preference, for example when he states that 100% of farmers would leave their jobs if given the opportunity. Given the many social movements defending farming, and the farming families I have encountered who made efforts against all odds to remain in business, I wonder if this is really true.

Also, while the author prominently features the Hindu caste system as a spiritual expression of this preference, we should mention the clear choice for manual labour in the Christian tradition (especially monastic), as well as in the practice of Zen for example.

But in any case these are quibbles, go read it.

Nate Hagens of the Oil Drum presents the article in the following way.

Go to the original site to read it:

“The following is a guest post from Vinay Kumar, who lives in the small coastal town in Southern India. Vinay has a Phd in Neuroscience from M.I.T. and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. He works as a systems engineer and volunteers on an organic farm that he helped to create. He also provides technical help to local community organizations in India that are fighting polluting industries. Vinay is a friend of one of Herman Daly’s former graduate students in India which is how he came across TheOilDrum. The below essay on the implications of oil depletion for human labor is a great example of the cross disciplinary ideas that can emerge at the intersection of the internet and education .”