No.108, Thursday, 26th. March 2026

Some ten years or so ago I was struck by a thought that seemed to encapsulate everything that was happening in human society, and which furthermore set us onto a trajectory that was as inevitable as it was horrific. We appeared to be on the event horizon of a new era, one that future historians will almost certainly attach a label to in order to make sense of it and to facilitate discussion with their peers and students.

I came to this discovery when studying certain histories, most notably in relation to the circumstances that led to the fall of the Roman Empire, and the period in British history from the year 410 to the end of the millennium. Those studies, together with a period of intense learning for my 2004 Masters degree in energy, climate change and sustainability, led me to make connections between the present and the distant past.

Those connections were amplified by certain lucky personal insights I gained as an energy professional during the 1990’s and into the 21st. century, largely in private discussions with leading experts. For example, a key core belief that shapes my ‘world view’ is that knowledge should be shared, but I learned that there are times when this may cause more harm than good. But I find it difficult to keep knowledge to myself.

Over ten years ago I revisited the Dark Ages, a period in history that was not as uniformly dark as the label suggests, but which nevertheless was shadowy and bleak in so many ways, and where knowledge all but died. My lightbulb moment came when I realised that we were entering the early stages of a New Dark Age. One that is radically different to the original but which also has many similarities – such as the marginalisation of knowledge – and which could potentially be just as bleak and frightening for many.  I would like to end this preamble on a positive note, but I cannot find one – for the time being at least.