by Arjun Walia, The Pulse:
I was recently reminded of a Carl Sagan quote that tells our current times. The quote comes from Sagan’s final book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark written in 1995.
It goes like this:
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
There are certainly some obvious truths to this observation that we see today, some of his predictions are almost creepily accurate. This quote got me thinking about the shadow and light of some of what he brings forth. I’d like to share some of those thoughts and would love to hear your feedback as well.
Perhaps even at the time he wrote this, it was easy to see that manufacturing was going to be outsourced to other countries where labor is cheap; after all, that is the incentive of capitalistic systems.
But he makes some other observations worth discussing here.
1. Sagan speaks of a future time “when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few.”
One could argue that technological power is in almost everyone’s hands. Billions of us have small, powerful computers in our pockets every day, and so much can be done with them, from making money to solving key problems to staying connected. Of course, there are downsides to the way we use this technology as well. We are addicted to our phones, the total nature of how we use our phones can hijack our attention and emotional state.
But the consistent question I’ve always posed when it comes to technology is important here: is the technology to blame? Or the way our consciousness stewards and uses that technology? To blame technology is to say we have no innate power to regulate ourselves, our attention, our nervous system, and our emotions, and that technology controls that for us.
On the other hand of Sagan’s observation, governments have the ability to utilize technological power for incredible control and destruction. The interplay with government, elite interests, and Big Tech companies has shown the ability to control people’s perspectives on major events. Have a look at how censorship shaped public behavior during COVID. This is truly incredible technological power in the hands of a few.
We also see the ability to destroy the world, edit genes, manufacture bioweapons, and even potentially extend life dramatically – all incredible technological powers – are currently only in the hands of an elite few. Perhaps some of this could change in the coming future, but for now it is rather obvious what moment we’re in.
