HUMANITY’S FUTURE
HUMANITY’S FUTURE IS CURRENTLY IN QUESTION DUE TO THE IMPACT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. MY PAST WRITINGS HAVE EMPHASIZED THAT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY HAS PRODUCED POSITIVE RESULTS FOR OUR LIFE STYLES, BUT HAD DEVASTATING ADVERSE IMPACTS UPON THE NATURAL WORLD. MODERN CONVENIENCES HAVE COMPLICATED, YET SIMPLIFIED OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY IMPROVING OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND OUR PRODUCTIVITY. FOR MANY OF US, PARTICULARLY OUR SENIORS, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY HAS COMPLICATED OUR LIFES AND MADE COMMUNICATIONS MORE DIFFICULT. MUCH OF THE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN BY THE DESIRE TO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR A LARGER WORK FORCE. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR HUMANS BY RELYING ON THE INTERNET, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND ROBOTS; WILL DO TO THE HUMAN PSYCHE? MOST HUMANS SPENT AT LEAST 40 HOURS A WEEK IN A TECHNOLOGY WORLD ENVIRONMENT.
THE WAYS OF INTERNET USE HAS SHAPED HUMANITY OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS, WITH THE PROBABILITY OF INCREASED POTENTIAL IMPACT IN THE FUTURE. MANY TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS DESCRIBE THE STATE OF OUR SOCIETY AS TECHLASH. THE HOPE IS OF COURSE, THAT FURTHER ADVANCEMENTS WILL PRODUCE MORE INCLUSIVE AND REWARDING USES. THE TRUTH IS, EXPANDED USE OF THE INTERNET AND AI WILL RESULT IN INCREASED COMPLICATIONS, UNTRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CIBER INTERFERENCE AND ACTUAL WARFARE. THE LATE HISTORIAN, MELVIN KRANSBERG, HAS SUGGESTED,” TECHNOLOGY IS NEITHER GOOD OR BAD; NOR IS IT NEUTRAL. IN FACT, THE LAST 50 YEARS, THE INTERNET HAS BEEN TRANSFORMATIVE AND DISRUPTIVE. IN THE NEXT 50 YEARS, INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND AI TECHNOLOGY SHOW EVERY SIGN OF BEING EVEN MORE SO”.
WE HEAR, ALMOST DAILY, ABOUT THE ADVERSE IMPACTS SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE INTERNET IS HAVING, PARTICULARLY ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THE IMPACTS EVEN INCLUDE INCREASED SUICIDE RATES. WE HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCUSS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WITH SEVERAL NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND THE IMPACT IT IS HAVING ON THEIR YOUTH. THESE PEOPLE HAVE HELD ON TO THEIR TRADITIONAL CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD THROUGH STORY TELLING AND DAILY INTERACTION WITH NATURE. WE HAVE ATTENDED SEVERAL POWWOW’S, AND ARE HEARTENED BY THE WILLINGNESS OF THEIR YOUTH, PARTICULARLY TEEN AGERS, TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR DANCES AND CEREMONIES DRESSED IN THEIR TRADITIONAL REGALIA. THE ELDERS ARE NOW EXPRESSING CONCERN THAT TODAY THEIR YOUTH ARE BEING DISTRACTED BY TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS SMART PHONES AND THE INTERNET. THEIR TRADITIONAL CONNECTION TO NATURE AND CULTURAL ART IS SLOWLY SLIPPING AWAY. I STILL BELIEVE STRONGLY, THAT THE EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION WHICH PROVIDED THE NATIVE WISDOM ABOUT NATURE, IS CRITICAL FOR SUSTAINING HUMANITY’S FUTURE.
I HAVE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT EARTH HAS A LIMITED CARRYING-CAPACITY FOR THE MILLIONS OF ORGANISMS THAT LIVE ON OUR PLANET. OUR MAIN CONCERN IS WITH OUR OWN SPECIES. WE MUST REMEMBER, WHAT IS TRUE FOR HUMANS IS TRUE FOR MOST ALL SPECIES. WE HAVE OBSERVED NUMEROUS PAST SITUATIONS WHERE A SPECIES POPULATION HAS EXCEEDED ITS ECOSYSTEM’S CARRYING-CAPACITY. WHEN THIS OCCURS THE SPECIES EXPERIENCES SICKNESS, DISEASE, STARVATION AND EVEN DEATH. RECOVERY SOMETIMES IS POSSIBLE, HOWEVER EXTINCTION OF SOME SPECIES MAY RESULT. THERE HAVE BEEN FEW EFFORTS TO PROJECT WHAT THE CARRYING-CAPACITY ON EARTH IS FOR THE HUMAN SPECIES. MANY BELIEVE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WILL PROVIDE FOR HUMANITY’S FUTURE. AFTER ALL, WE CAN PURIFY THE WATER, CLEAR THE FOREST LANDS TO GROW FOOD CROPS, GENETICALLY ENGINEER PLANTS TO PROVIDE MORE FOOD, LEVEL THE MOUNTAINS TO CREATE CITIES AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS, AND THE LIST GOES ON. YET, ALL THIS DESTROYS THE NATURAL WORLD THAT SUSTAINS 80% OF LIFE ON EARTH.
HUMANITY’S FUTURE WILL REQUIRE CONTROLLING AND HARNESSING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IF WE HOPE TO PROLONG THE SUSTENANCE OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. JUAN ORTIZ FREULER AND NNENNA NWAKENMIA, OF THE AFRICA AT THE WEB FOUNDATION, WROTE, “UNLESS WE SEE A RADICAL SHIFT SOON, THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT WILL LIKELY BE RECALLED AS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. HISTORY WILL UNDERLINE THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE BASIS FOR RADICALLY INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES WHERE NETWORKED COMMUNICATIONS COULD CERTAINLY DEFINED THEIR COLLECTIVE FUTURE. A TOOL THAT COULD HAVE EMPOWERED THE PEOPLE BUT BECAME A TOOL FOR MASS SURVEILLANCE AND POPULATION CONTROL. A TOOL THAT COULD HAVE STRENGTHENED THE SOCIAL FIBER BY ALLOWING PEOPLE TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND SHARE THEIR STORIES, BUT OUT OF IT GREW HUGH INEQUALITIES BETWEEN THE CONNECTED AND NOT-CONNECTED, BOTH LOCALLY AND ACROSS COUNTRIES”.
THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HUMANITY IS AT A PRECIPICE, AND ITS FUTURE IS AT STAKE. RELIANCE UPON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MAY IMPROVE OUR LIFE STYLE, BUT PROBABLY FAIL TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO SHARE AND WORK TOGETHER. IT WILL MOST LIKELY ACCELERATE THE EXTINCTION OF SPECIES, INCLUDING OUR OWN SPECIES! OUR EXPANDED RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY WILL ADVERSELY IMPACT THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS THAT SUSTAIN LIFE. NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGERS MUST FOCUS THEIR EFFORTS ON SUSTAINING WHAT REMAINS OF THE NATURAL WORLD. LIP-SERVICE IS NOT SUFFICIENT, ACTION IS REQUIRED! WE ARE NOW FACED WITH THE QUESTION, IS IT TO LATE TO PROLONG OUR FUTURE? I CHALLENGE YOU TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, JOIN HANDS AND FIND REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO PROLONG HUMANITY’S EXISTENCE ON PLANET EARTH. MANY OF THE CHANGES WILL FOCUS ON NEW AND DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR WHAT REMAINS OF THE NATURAL WORLD! MUCH OF THE NEEDED WISDOM REQUIRED FOR FUTURE MANAGEMENT CAN BE FOUND WITHIN OTHER CULTURES, LIKE OUR NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
HUMANITY’S FUTURE IS CURRENTLY IN QUESTION DUE TO THE IMPACT OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. MY PAST WRITINGS HAVE EMPHASIZED THAT ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY HAS PRODUCED POSITIVE RESULTS FOR OUR LIFE STYLES, BUT HAD DEVASTATING ADVERSE IMPACTS UPON THE NATURAL WORLD. MODERN CONVENIENCES HAVE COMPLICATED, YET SIMPLIFIED OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY IMPROVING OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND OUR PRODUCTIVITY. FOR MANY OF US, PARTICULARLY OUR SENIORS, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY HAS COMPLICATED OUR LIFES AND MADE COMMUNICATIONS MORE DIFFICULT. MUCH OF THE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY EFFORTS HAVE BEEN DRIVEN BY THE DESIRE TO ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR A LARGER WORK FORCE. CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR HUMANS BY RELYING ON THE INTERNET, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND ROBOTS; WILL DO TO THE HUMAN PSYCHE? MOST HUMANS SPENT AT LEAST 40 HOURS A WEEK IN A TECHNOLOGY WORLD ENVIRONMENT.
THE WAYS OF INTERNET USE HAS SHAPED HUMANITY OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS, WITH THE PROBABILITY OF INCREASED POTENTIAL IMPACT IN THE FUTURE. MANY TECHNOLOGY EXPERTS DESCRIBE THE STATE OF OUR SOCIETY AS TECHLASH. THE HOPE IS OF COURSE, THAT FURTHER ADVANCEMENTS WILL PRODUCE MORE INCLUSIVE AND REWARDING USES. THE TRUTH IS, EXPANDED USE OF THE INTERNET AND AI WILL RESULT IN INCREASED COMPLICATIONS, UNTRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION, CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, CIBER INTERFERENCE AND ACTUAL WARFARE. THE LATE HISTORIAN, MELVIN KRANSBERG, HAS SUGGESTED,” TECHNOLOGY IS NEITHER GOOD OR BAD; NOR IS IT NEUTRAL. IN FACT, THE LAST 50 YEARS, THE INTERNET HAS BEEN TRANSFORMATIVE AND DISRUPTIVE. IN THE NEXT 50 YEARS, INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND AI TECHNOLOGY SHOW EVERY SIGN OF BEING EVEN MORE SO”.
WE HEAR, ALMOST DAILY, ABOUT THE ADVERSE IMPACTS SOCIAL MEDIA ON THE INTERNET IS HAVING, PARTICULARLY ON OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. THE IMPACTS EVEN INCLUDE INCREASED SUICIDE RATES. WE HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO DISCUSS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WITH SEVERAL NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE, AND THE IMPACT IT IS HAVING ON THEIR YOUTH. THESE PEOPLE HAVE HELD ON TO THEIR TRADITIONAL CONNECTION TO THE NATURAL WORLD THROUGH STORY TELLING AND DAILY INTERACTION WITH NATURE. WE HAVE ATTENDED SEVERAL POWWOW’S, AND ARE HEARTENED BY THE WILLINGNESS OF THEIR YOUTH, PARTICULARLY TEEN AGERS, TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR DANCES AND CEREMONIES DRESSED IN THEIR TRADITIONAL REGALIA. THE ELDERS ARE NOW EXPRESSING CONCERN THAT TODAY THEIR YOUTH ARE BEING DISTRACTED BY TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS SMART PHONES AND THE INTERNET. THEIR TRADITIONAL CONNECTION TO NATURE AND CULTURAL ART IS SLOWLY SLIPPING AWAY. I STILL BELIEVE STRONGLY, THAT THE EMPIRICAL OBSERVATION WHICH PROVIDED THE NATIVE WISDOM ABOUT NATURE, IS CRITICAL FOR SUSTAINING HUMANITY’S FUTURE.
I HAVE PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT EARTH HAS A LIMITED CARRYING-CAPACITY FOR THE MILLIONS OF ORGANISMS THAT LIVE ON OUR PLANET. OUR MAIN CONCERN IS WITH OUR OWN SPECIES. WE MUST REMEMBER, WHAT IS TRUE FOR HUMANS IS TRUE FOR MOST ALL SPECIES. WE HAVE OBSERVED NUMEROUS PAST SITUATIONS WHERE A SPECIES POPULATION HAS EXCEEDED ITS ECOSYSTEM’S CARRYING-CAPACITY. WHEN THIS OCCURS THE SPECIES EXPERIENCES SICKNESS, DISEASE, STARVATION AND EVEN DEATH. RECOVERY SOMETIMES IS POSSIBLE, HOWEVER EXTINCTION OF SOME SPECIES MAY RESULT. THERE HAVE BEEN FEW EFFORTS TO PROJECT WHAT THE CARRYING-CAPACITY ON EARTH IS FOR THE HUMAN SPECIES. MANY BELIEVE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY WILL PROVIDE FOR HUMANITY’S FUTURE. AFTER ALL, WE CAN PURIFY THE WATER, CLEAR THE FOREST LANDS TO GROW FOOD CROPS, GENETICALLY ENGINEER PLANTS TO PROVIDE MORE FOOD, LEVEL THE MOUNTAINS TO CREATE CITIES AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS, AND THE LIST GOES ON. YET, ALL THIS DESTROYS THE NATURAL WORLD THAT SUSTAINS 80% OF LIFE ON EARTH.
HUMANITY’S FUTURE WILL REQUIRE CONTROLLING AND HARNESSING ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IF WE HOPE TO PROLONG THE SUSTENANCE OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. JUAN ORTIZ FREULER AND NNENNA NWAKENMIA, OF THE AFRICA AT THE WEB FOUNDATION, WROTE, “UNLESS WE SEE A RADICAL SHIFT SOON, THE INTERNET AS WE KNOW IT WILL LIKELY BE RECALLED AS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY. HISTORY WILL UNDERLINE THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE BASIS FOR RADICALLY INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES WHERE NETWORKED COMMUNICATIONS COULD CERTAINLY DEFINED THEIR COLLECTIVE FUTURE. A TOOL THAT COULD HAVE EMPOWERED THE PEOPLE BUT BECAME A TOOL FOR MASS SURVEILLANCE AND POPULATION CONTROL. A TOOL THAT COULD HAVE STRENGTHENED THE SOCIAL FIBER BY ALLOWING PEOPLE TO KNOW EACH OTHER AND SHARE THEIR STORIES, BUT OUT OF IT GREW HUGH INEQUALITIES BETWEEN THE CONNECTED AND NOT-CONNECTED, BOTH LOCALLY AND ACROSS COUNTRIES”.
THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HUMANITY IS AT A PRECIPICE, AND ITS FUTURE IS AT STAKE. RELIANCE UPON ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MAY IMPROVE OUR LIFE STYLE, BUT PROBABLY FAIL TO IMPROVE OUR ABILITY TO SHARE AND WORK TOGETHER. IT WILL MOST LIKELY ACCELERATE THE EXTINCTION OF SPECIES, INCLUDING OUR OWN SPECIES! OUR EXPANDED RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY WILL ADVERSELY IMPACT THE NATURAL WORLD AND THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS THAT SUSTAIN LIFE. NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGERS MUST FOCUS THEIR EFFORTS ON SUSTAINING WHAT REMAINS OF THE NATURAL WORLD. LIP-SERVICE IS NOT SUFFICIENT, ACTION IS REQUIRED! WE ARE NOW FACED WITH THE QUESTION, IS IT TO LATE TO PROLONG OUR FUTURE? I CHALLENGE YOU TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX, JOIN HANDS AND FIND REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO PROLONG HUMANITY’S EXISTENCE ON PLANET EARTH. MANY OF THE CHANGES WILL FOCUS ON NEW AND DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR WHAT REMAINS OF THE NATURAL WORLD! MUCH OF THE NEEDED WISDOM REQUIRED FOR FUTURE MANAGEMENT CAN BE FOUND WITHIN OTHER CULTURES, LIKE OUR NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
