I wish I could say anything wise nowadays.1
A century ago, a war which had been ravaging Europe for four years, ended, and then, a deadly flu pandemic hit.
These days, having survived another pandemic, humans are starting one war after another, and no one knows how to break the vicious circle of destruction.
Many of us emerged from the global illness broken, either with grief or health degradation, but at the same time we all (no, not actually everyone, but the majority at least), realized that thanks to science, we had done better than our ancestors a century ago. What did we expect our next actions would be, when we finally could breathe again? That reason and science, the two human achievements which proved to be so effective in fighting the disease, would triumph, and now we would focus on new challenges, starting from how to survive the climate change?
Now the hopes and efforts for a better future are drowned in the sprees of killing. In Ukraine, in Israel, in Gaza.
I’ve watched “Cosmic Time Machine”, from the “Unknown” series on Netflix, a documentary about the process of designing and launching the James Webb Space Telescope.2 It is a miracle that all the ultra complex machinery has successfully passed every of hundreds of “single point failures.” A “single point failure” is a movement of a machine that must be successful to proceed, no workaround available; when it fails, the whole project fails. From the statistical point of view, passing hundreds of such critical points in sequence, is a miracle indeed. But from the human point of view, it might be a proof of our enormous capabilities.
In the movie, after the scene when the telescope completes the process of unfolding its mirrors and shields, all in unimaginably distant, frigid space, several people involved in the project share their impressions. One of the astrophysicists says: "it is a good example of what we humans can do when we work together for something good."
"[The success of the James Webb Space Telescope] is a good example of what we humans can do when we work together for something good"
Among the podcasts I listen to regularly, “Past, Present, Future”, a series by David Runciman from London Review of Books, is my recent favourite. In an episode titled with a neologism: “The Leviacene: Defining Our Times”, David presents his thinking and conclusions about the epoch we live in, often referred to as Anthropocene.3
The term denotes a time behind the tipping point, when the changes which the human race had inflicted on our planet, started to trigger consequences measurable in geological time. In popular narrative “Anthropocene” is tantamount to, presumably irreversible, harm which we, the human race, do to Mother Earth.
David Runciman argues against despair. He dispels the air of collective guilt. Not everyone on Earth contributes to the devastation of the environment; hence, the term “anthropo-“, which comprises all humans, is inaccurate and misguided. Should we then attribute the evil to someone or something else, namely technology? Are we the victims of Technocene? David rejects the idea, promptly. No, there are still people, who are responsible, they are some of us, an artificial version of us. To describe these inauthentic humans with one word, Runciman borrows from Tomas Hobbes, an English philosopher of the 17th century, the name of Leviathan, an insatiable sea monster. Those who transgress the laws of Nature and destroy harmonious cohabitation of humans, do this out of Leviathan-like greed for wealth, power, or control, out of hubris and overblown ego. The proper term for the epoch of destruction is Leviacene.
There is no point in trying to repeat here all the reasoning, and I encourage every reader to listen to the podcast in the whole. The takeaway is that we are not doomed; through international cooperation and wise policies, we can restore agency to the authentic, humane version of us. Then, we can undo the destruction of Leviacene, and return to the Anthropocene, in its new meaning: the age of agency of authentic humans.
I don’t believe that any kind of “artificial intelligence” will ever solve the vital problems for humanity. The buck stops with us, Homo Sapiens.
The A.I. looks like Leviathan, too, both because of the amount of energy it devours, and the scope of control it tends to gain over us. Again, it is our, human’s responsibility how we will allow it to develop, and how we will harness it. Will it become a Leviathan or a helping tool? If an artificial “brain” can discern patterns and diagnose cancer better than humans, it is worth to let it help the doctors. If it can calculate billions of molecules and predict which of them make the prospect towards effective vaccines or medicines, it is worth the energy it consumes to help scientists in their research.
On the fringes of the applications of A.I., I cannot help sharing my joy about “Now and Then”, the so called “Last song of The Beatles”. On reading first titles, I was apprehensive: “What? They faked John’s voice with A.I.? A non-starter for me. Get out!” But I read, and the story proved to be more nuanced.4 After John’s death, the three approached several times a demo tape he left, but could not figure out how to restore his voice from behind too loud piano and all the noises recorded. Now, with the use of an A.I. based software, sound engineers did not imitate John Lennon’s voice, but distilled it from the overlapping sounds. In a similar way, what recordings remained of George’s guitar from the sessions on “Now and Then”, became parts to assemble a continuous George-like sounding solo.
Was the use of A.I. here a transgression of the artists rights?
Paul McCartney: “We’ve all played on it, so it is a genuine Beatle recording.”
Why am I writing about relatively trivial experiences: watching a documentary movie, listening to a podcast from an intellectual, enjoying a song from a popular band?
Are reflections on these resources congruous with the gravity of the time?
In the time of barbarism, we need civility, and it starts with the ideas which fill our everyday life.
I stopped and was thinking how to elaborate and conclude, when a newsletter from “Story Club with George Saunders” came, with a prompt which could not be more to the point:
“Writing and reading are gentle actions, that create subtle tides of gentleness in an ungentle world.”5
Another thought comes from Ziad Assali, President of “The American Task Force on Palestine”:
“All of this hard work (towards peace) can be done, and obstacles can be overcome if we prioritise our children’s futures over the grievances of our grandparents”6
I am leaving you, my dear Reader, with this statement, turned into an open question:
“What we humans can do when we work together for something good"
If you have any thoughts on the above, please leave a comment. Your remarks may improve my future writing.
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Thanks for reading; until next time!
Press “like” if you will, it is the kindest expression of encouragement.
The title is a line from “Bety’s Diner”, a song by Carrie Newcomer, 2023
https://open.spotify.com/track/7gF9SY4aEg4Uoski2zT1CE
“Cosmic Time Machine”, from the “Unknown” series, Netflix
https://www.netflix.com/watch/81473680
“The Leviacene: Defining Our Times”, from London Review of Books podcast series “Past, Present, Future” by David Runciman
https://open.spotify.com/episode/285IcjExLUQ7QVFV6QWZjR
“Now and Then”: enabled by AI, created by profound connections between the four Beatles. “The Conversation” 2023-11-04, by Adam Behr.
https://theconversation.com/now-and-then-enabled-by-ai-created-by-profound-connections-between-the-four-beatles-216920
Related short documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APJAQoSCwuA
George Saunders, “Writing in Hard Times”, 2023-11-02 newsletter from “Story Club with George Saunders”
https://georgesaunders.substack.com/p/office-hours-cdb?r=2mmte
“My Message of Peace. There never has been, nor will there be, a military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” by Ziad Asali, The Atlantic, 2023-11-04
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/israel-gaza-no-military-solution/675897/