Once many years ago, back in 1974, I walked into the computer room of a large corporation. Back when computers were huge, bulky machines the size of Volkswagens. It was cold in there, I guess in order to keep the computers cool. It was sterile, lifeless and slightly scary, with only the faint humming of the machines in the background. I shuddered and left that room as quickly as I could. 1974 was a lifetime ago, and things have kept forward several lifetimes as far as our computer technology goes. Yet……..
With each and every year we have fewer Monarch butterflies, fewer honeybees. Fewer birds and now Koala bears. Sixty percent of the species which were alive in 1974 are now…..gone.
We have fewer of everything except for humans.
We humans have to recognize that we are losing our world, the world of nature, the natural world. The world which built us, and nurtured our species. The world which furnishes our food, and the beauty which exists all around us.
As we continue to become machine dependent, we will become less dependent on the natural world. As man evolves and becomes partially or semi totally an entity of wire, diodes, microchips and bytes the world around us will become cold and devoid of natural life. It’ll be just like that sterile, cold and dead computer room I visited in 1974.
What use does a sentient machine have for a butterfly or a bee? Why would an Android care for a waterfall or a sunset.
I’ll be long gone before that (perhaps)and thank God for that. My heart cries for all who are left, unless our course drastically changes.
Writing for Sanity's Sake 