Class Number One "overshoot"

The meaning of overshoot is to over do something beyond its limits without meaning to. In the chapter "overshoot" from the "Limits of Growth" by Andrew J. Bacevich, overshoot is a system. There are three main reasons for overshoot. The first there is a growth, acceleration or rapid change. The second reason is there is a limit or barrier that if you were to go beyond things won’t work out right. The third reason is delay or mistake which helps keep the system regulated. An example of overshoot is passing a stop sign when the road is icy causing there to be less friction between the road and the car tire. This small example goes with a rapid change (1st reason) or delay which comes with slow reflexes. The road was icy therefore he/she should have taken extra caution while driving. This simple action would have or could have prevented an overshoot. Although global warming is on a much greater scale, we could still take small precautions that will help prevent large amount of pollution and over population. In the reading it states that we could limit our use of water. We tend to abuse what we have without realizing that the small things matter and could stop the big disasters from happening. Overshoot could be corrected if caught before it gets out of hand. Today we are facing overshoot at a much greater scale. This overshoot we are facing is called peak oil the world is mid way through its oil supply.

The reading mentions overgrowth in a population and its consequence, they include peak oil and the collapse. Today we are going through an overshoot. The reason why we aren't correcting this overshoot is because there is no immediate pressure to change. In reality there is huge pressure to change. These pressures are: peak oil out of control, pollution which mankind has never encountered and global warming. If we do not put an end to this overshoot, we will face these disasters.