When I tell my students that we human beings aren't all that bright, they laugh. They think I'm just being cranky. Now, frankly, that's exactly what I intend. Not that I'm wrong - we human beings aren't all that bright - but there's not a lot we can do about that, so why not have a laugh about it?

Think I'm wrong? Well, the first "gas crisis" hit in the late 1970s. In the U.S., poor old Jimmy Carter got crucified for suggesting that folks maybe ought to conserve gasoline, and start thinking about alternative energy sources. And now that oil really is running out? Hmmmm - how about the bright lights at the airlines, for example? Or, how about car makers (not to mention the people dumb enough to buy their big trucks and SUVs)?

Of course, the fact that everyone's known since oil's discovery that it was a limited commodity doesn't constitute a good reason to have expected maybe just a teensy bit of foresight.

Like I said, not too bright.