Today, electronic communication systems have become an integral part of people’s lives. Not constraint by East or West, North or South, the material, financial, intellectual, and emotional dependence on the Internet, electricity, and computing devices is growing both steadily and rapidly — globally.
For many, “being connected” has become a new way of life, the way, or at least a necessary prerequisite to “have a life,” and there seems to be no turning back. The electronic highway has become a dazzling high-tech fast lane, profoundly changing the way how human civilization functions.
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New economies, new forms of communicating, and new systems of exchange emerge from out hyper-connectivity, and as “virtual” things might seem, still — the material, real, physical activities need to go on, even increase, and electronic connectivity is only adding up to all that and to our busy, hyper-active schedules.
It’s of course not just that — certainly the fact of the world’s population exploding to an expected 11 billion in 2100 (with currently 8 billion souls) is a powerful motor for a steady increase of economic and social activities. But one supports the other; to manage this number of people has only become possible because of advancements in information and communication technology.
But exposed to a perpetual onslaught of unsolicited information and automation, relentless monitoring and control, persuasion and suppression, our contemporary civilization increasingly suffers from a disquieting mix of instability, incertitude, and anxiety.
We seem to live primarily by rapidly launched, brief, often superfluous and indoctrinating statements and directives, which almost deliberately short-circuit both our emotional and intellectual plugs. Our general state of mind too often mirrors a condition of restlessly surfing-the-waves-and-tides of do-this, do-that, think-this, think-that, of no-time, no-have-time, no-make-time.
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I have no way of knowing where all this is going to, but it’s “a thinker.” I don’t claim it’s all “bad” though. There are definitely quite a lot of advantages coming along with the multitude of changes happening. Many things can be done very quickly nowadays, very efficiently.
Yet, the thing I’m a bit worried about, is the way human civilization develops, that is — the so-called “stage” we’re in. History has shown us that successful phenomena, might it be empires or species, finally collapse due to their own weight. Things just become too heavy, too complicated.
I have no doubt that the human species will finally disappear to make place for new “natural” experiments. That’s Nature’s law. And I suppose nothing can stop that from happening. The question is if we’re witnessing the final stage, or maybe just an intermediate one. Whatever may be the case — it’s not something I believe we can change anyhow. At best we might be able to slow down our frantic journey towards the blast.
You see, I believe Nature is only interested is continuity. Continuity of life and living. Everything that threatens that, or fails doing so, will be wiped out eventually. There are naturally no exceptions to that, because Life’s intrinsic character is Life. And living.
And Life will kill to reach its goal.
