So, now what?
Internet’s down, no cell service, electrical grid’s getting shaky. The storm is raging outside. Trees are bending to their maximum under ferocious winds. The rain is a torrential never-ending pelt, and the meteorologists could not accurately predict exactly where this hurricane would make landfall. But they predicted it would be close.
So, now I am isolated from the outside world. No way to check the weather, no way to communicate with anyone, no way to find out if there is flooding, or if the predicted tornadoes are on the way. Welcome to rural Florida!
All this got me to thinking. What did we do, 35 years ago? When there was no internet, or cell phones, or Doppler radar to accurately predict where the storm was coming from, and where it was going. What would happen to the legions of youngsters, who never experienced life without a cell phone, or the internet, should a total failure of the grid and cyberspace take place? What to speak of the absence of omnipresent streaming entertainment?
Suppose we were all suddenly transported back to the mid-1970s, when there was no cable TV, and television reception depended on two strategically placed rabbit ears, the position of which determined which of the half-dozen or so television stations available to us we could pick up. Music came from terrestrial radios, or from (gasp!) record players! Could we cope?
My thoughts drifted back further. In the 1930s and 40s, families gathered around the big console radio, usually in the living room one night a week, to learn what was going on in the world, or to be entertained by radio plays. It wasn’t long before that time that electricity wasn’t even available; everyone depended on newspapers and had to read volumes of books to entertain or educate themselves. They washed their clothes and dishes by hand and built wood fires to heat the water with which they cooked, bathed and kept their houses warm.
No, I think modern humans in the privileged Western countries might have a rough go of it if forced to live like our recent ancestors. And we would be compelled to learn not only how to use our brains and brawn again, but also how to be resourceful and how to develop physical strength and mental toughness. These are not bad things. And yet, there is an entire generation that believes all of this needs to be replaced by AI, so that we don’t even need to think anymore!
Some people fear that the rise of AI could lead to the destruction of mankind. I might agree, but perhaps not for the same reasons. I’m not sure if a lack of technological guardrails will be responsible for an AI gone mad, but I’m pretty certain that given specific unnatural technological developments of the past 50 years, we as a “civilized” species may have lost the ability to live off the land, feed and clothe ourselves, and provide for our offspring.
Time will tell. But in the interim, I think I’m going to work on regaining my mental toughness, making myself physically stronger, more resilient, and self-reliant. And just maybe, I’ll depend just a bit less on the high-tech conveniences for a while. It certainly couldn’t hurt!
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: Flickr
