We are capable of incredible feats. And of disgustingly low sins. We must learn to admit that, as much as our pride refuses to acknowledge it, we are in no way masters of this planet. If modern science began with Galileo(a common assumption, Ive found), lets say in 1586 (when he published his work on the hydrostatic balance) then we have been doing science for 428 years. We went from a 30% maternity death rate, believing that foul smell caused disease, burning witches and discussing if the native population of the American continent was human to a life expectancy of at least 70 years, more than half of the humanity living in cities, an instinctive reflex of extending our hand to the light switch, flying to the Moon, keeping a permanent outpost orbiting the planet, chasing comets with probes and Mars fully populated by robots. Think on airplanes: a machine with a mass of 600 tonnes, flying 42 000 ft high at 600 knots. We litterally went from riding horses to routinely flying in these machines in less than 120 years. And yet, in our arrogance, we have inflicted tremendous damage to our own planet. Climate change, desertification, deforestation, degradation of the top soil, air, soil and water polution, astronomical extinction rates, and a notorious carelessness for this all. Homo hominis lupus est, indeed. Even now, we are still slaughtering each other. Ive read that, after Japan surrendered in 1945, something incredible happened: the world was at peace. Yes, thats right, there was WORLD PEACE... for 14 days. Nobody died because of the immediate, direct or indirect effect of war for 14 days. No weapon was fired in anger, no ship sailed with crew in quarters, no plane flew a combat patrol. Peace. And it has been the only time in modern history that we have achieved such a thing. But right now, war is raging somewhere. Be fanatic hordes following their banners and commiting atrocities, be multimillion dollars fighter jets dropping cutting edge far cousins of the humble arrow, be drones shooting death while being controled as if it were a videogame. Governments all over the world are showing their masters true colours. China and the Hong Kong demonstrations; USA and the militarization of police forces, their response to the demonstrators, and the scourge of racism which subsists, represented by the Tea Party and other Ayn Rand worshipers; the way Germany, which is not necessarily doing it in an evil way, is asphixiating the European Union with is intransigent austerity posture; the saudi government and their dumping campaign on fracking, the Republicans and their political offensive on green energy, the israeli government and their continous onslaught on Palestines, Putins Russia and Ukrania, China and Tibet, Central Africa, diamonds, ivory and oil, India, Pakistan, Mexico and their almost-century long struggle with the ruling party, and the list goes on, and on, and on... It is sad, but in the almost 10 000 years we have lived in what we called civilization of any kind (taking as a first the Jomon period potterly) we have always been in a state of semi permanent war or struggle. Regardless of the reason why, even technology has made huge advances many times because of our search of innovative and ever efficient ways to kill, maim or destroy. And yet, from time to time, nature reminds us that we are still a newcomer species of primates, that even if our technology allowed us to modify the environment to whatever we thought it was better suited to our needs, she was the one in charge, and we may actually have been misled in regard of what our needs really are. Technology and the way we use it, fund it and direct research has vey weird paradoxes. We can send a probe in a 10 year, six billion kilometers journey across the solar system, make it accelerate at 30 000 km/h with thrusters and gravity assistance, and chase down a comet to put a washing machine-sized lab on it. We can build an Airbus A-380 at industrial pace. We can built city-sized microscopes to have a peek on matter structure. We can achieve DNA tests that only cost 1000 USD. We can 3D print almost anything we dream about. We have Internet, social media, extremely advanced medicine, and the list is huge. Yet, there may be years untill we are able to figure out what happened with Malasya Flight 370, polio, tuberculosis, and influenza are very real threats, nuclear energy is still a risky bet, and there is serious research to achieve a drug that allow soldiers to be awake for weeks fully alert. Art, sport, science, and humanities are the real proofs of our advancement. Technology is replacing human labor from lots and lots of tasks. Many see this as a threat to thousands, millions. How can they earn money to make a living, if they are not necessary to produce goods? Maybe we should start to see it as an opportunity. People are not valuable because of their capacity to produce goods or perform labor. People are valuable because each mind holds vast amounts of potential. Machines may produce what we need to live, but only humans can decide what we want to live for. Technology is releasing us from the need to concern about what we have to do, about our basic needs. It is offering the freedom to mold our lives and our society around the things we want to do. It is offering the possibility to pursue our dreams, assured that our needs are covered, and releasing our minds from that nuissance. What do you want to do with your life? As long as you make the choice, there is really no wrong answer. What would you do if food, shelter, clothing, medical care, transportation, power and materials werent a concern? Thats Humanitys question today. To be, or not to be... https://youtube/watch?v=XYVSqWtB2Lo
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 23:31:36 +0000
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