I think we're finally gonna try to see Children of Men today.
Speaking of dystopia...
I've been doing some more pondering about the obstacles facing our species as we stumble towards the next paradigm shift, whatever it may be. I have serious doubts as to whether we'll even reach the finish line. There's a cruel irony to almost: "We almost had the foresight, creativity and discipline to avert Armageddon."
The hurdles before us are legion, but I've got a few faves.
Further environmental degradation could lead to mass-scale diaspora, violent competition for resources, reactionary authoritarianism and the re-introduction of 19th-century plagues. That's in addition to those sad polar bears. Maybe we should give cloud seeding a try.
Then there's the religious folks — most of humanity, with pockets of resistance — whose inability to break out of their eschatological programming is driving civilization to the brink of all-consuming conflict.
WMDs, astronomical impact objects, lack of clean tube socks — I could go on and on.
Each of these issues could prevent us us from identifying and implementing necessary correctives, creating the grimmest feedback loop of all — a self-perpetuating, ever-accelerating engine of destruction and confusion.
I believe that most, if not all, of the problems facing humanity can be solved, but I worry that we're too distracted to do so. Our "waking up" point should have already happened. What's the big holdup?
Then again, I'm hardly an enlightened being — most of my brain power goes towards debating the pros and cons of the new iPhone. There's a little space left for Wired Magazine. Say, wasn't their last cover story called "The Science of Human Enhancement"? Damn, I haven't even read it yet. See what I mean?
This is ostensibly a music blog, but there are other topics to consider. As much as we value art, there has to be something resembling a stable culture for it to exist. I mean, at least Dostoevsky had his gulag.
On a positive note, I've become rather intrigued by M-Theory — the "what, me worry?" of Elegant Physics.
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