The problem is that it's very difficult to think in, or even imagine, a new paradigm.
Here's the paradigm: the introduction of technology (starting with the wheel?) led us inexorably down the wrong path, and only in this century are we beginning to see its civilization-ending effects.
Technology breeds new technology. It's seductive (all those cool mechanical/electrical/quantum-mechanical problems to solve!). It relieves many burdens, and makes life easier - but then leads to explosive population growth dependent on technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process). And attendant to this, pollution and environmental degradation: a slow erosion of life-sustaining processes.
The path of technology inevitably leads to a dead end. There's no escaping our vast population: 8 billion individuals is a lot, by any measure. It is the root cause of all our environmental problems. Can we creatively apply new technologies to solve this problem in time to prevent ecological and environmental collapse? We're right in the middle of the experiment, and there's no guaranteed outcome...
Imagine if we had chosen an alternative path to "civilization" without mechanical technology - what would it look like? It's easy to mock the idea of "living in harmony with Nature", but what if that's the only way to a sustainable human civilization?
> the introduction of technology (starting with the wheel?) led us inexorably down the wrong path, and only in this century are we beginning to see its civilization-ending effects.
It is interesting to think about what technology harbored the destruction of the civilization said technology ushered in.
For context, the wheel is estimated to have been invented around 3,500BC, while we've had structures and systems that resemble and arguably are foundational to today's civilization: the cities that even older than wheels, like Argos, Athens, Plovdiv, Jericho, Thebes, Larisa, etc.
Here's the paradigm: the introduction of technology (starting with the wheel?) led us inexorably down the wrong path, and only in this century are we beginning to see its civilization-ending effects.
Technology breeds new technology. It's seductive (all those cool mechanical/electrical/quantum-mechanical problems to solve!). It relieves many burdens, and makes life easier - but then leads to explosive population growth dependent on technology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process). And attendant to this, pollution and environmental degradation: a slow erosion of life-sustaining processes.
The path of technology inevitably leads to a dead end. There's no escaping our vast population: 8 billion individuals is a lot, by any measure. It is the root cause of all our environmental problems. Can we creatively apply new technologies to solve this problem in time to prevent ecological and environmental collapse? We're right in the middle of the experiment, and there's no guaranteed outcome...
Imagine if we had chosen an alternative path to "civilization" without mechanical technology - what would it look like? It's easy to mock the idea of "living in harmony with Nature", but what if that's the only way to a sustainable human civilization?