One sad fact with the internet is that it is so easy to find out if someone already "said it" or "thought it". Working with my latest manuscript, I had the idea to name our species after the dominating energy source used for the three main phases of development.
The hunting and gathering man - Homo something (yet to figure out - my Greek was never that good).
The farming man - Homo agricola
The industrial man - Homo petroleum
The last thing recognizing the fundamental role oil (or fossil fuel in general) plays for our so called modern society. We often believe it is human ingenuity or technology or even "the market economy" that has made the modern world possible. But trust me, fossil fuel is the most prominent factor....
And of course I searched for Homo petroleum on the net and found that some other clever person already used the expression.
Discovering Homo Petroleum by Pouly
(original version in french)
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