Is there any chance of this? My belief is that, like most fables, the least interesting thing we can do with this story is to take it for granted. Rather, its power lies in the revelation of a reality we already live with: clock and calendar time are less and less relevant to important events in our world. The current influence of our technology on the planet is almost obscene – and the saddest thing is the mismatch between the impact of our creations and our ability to control them.
This brings us to the biggest question of all. Can we divert the trajectory of technology’s needs to something like our own long-term interests? No, I would argue, if we surrender ourselves to the seduction of impotence or incoherent thinking – or the future of technology as a single, predetermined course.
Like our creations, we are individually nuanced – yet collectively the effect is vast. It took the Earth 4.7 billion years to develop a population of one billion; 120 more years to produce two billion; It will take less than a century for the seven and a half billion human beings now alive to contemplate their future with all the tools of reason, desire, knowledge and illusion that evolution and innovation have given them.
This is what the balance has been at the sharp end for 4.7 billion years. We have less time than ever – and we can accomplish more.
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