Patrick Steadman ptsteadman

Recurse Center Application

Links

What is the most fascinating thing you've learned in the past month?

It took a bit longer than a month, but I recently finished reading "The Prize", a history of the global petroleum industry. Since the first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, the industry has alternated between periods of glut and shortage. During periods of glut, new sources drive the price of oil below the cost of production, leading to waste and consolidation. Periods of shortage spur government support for conservation and costly new exploration efforts like offshore drilling.

It's fascinating how the conditions of one period of glut precipitate the next period of shortage, and vice versa. Although this cycle has happened several times since 1859, the political and technological landscape has changed dramatically each time: for example, shifting from vertically integrated global corporations owning oil concessions around the world to nationalized oil producers selling to a financialize

Keybase proof

I hereby claim:

I am ptsteadman on github.
I am ptsteadman (https://keybase.io/ptsteadman) on keybase.
I have a public key whose fingerprint is 3C35 4C9A 0BB9 B4F3 C3E2 41C5 7039 AA9A FE34 85B7

To claim this, I am signing this object:

	<html>
	<head>
	<style>
	body {
	background-repeat: repeat-y;
	padding: 20px 20px 20px 20px;
	}
	</style>
	</head>
	<body background="cowprin.jpg">

	date,isDate
	09-10-2013,1
	06-10-2013,1
	10-23-2012,1
	09-12-2012,1
	06-11-2012,1
	03-07-2012,1
	01-19-2012,1
	10-04-2011,1
	06-06-2011,1