HORRORS: In Real & In Dream
Erasmus : In the "Horrors" pages we look at some of the disadvantages which technology may bring to us. Even seemingly helpful technologies as the Stargate, would deliver enemies within instants to many parts of our world. Defence would almost default to each isolated human outpost walling itself off from the outside world. The zombies and vampires promise eternal life and battery power, but also death and stagnation.
The Blob may be the ultimate recycling tool, with a cost of recycling humanity as well. Even living longer would carry a price. Imagine the earth creaking under a load of 70 billion inhabitants, created simply by reducing the death of older inhabitants. To truly champion technology, one needs to understand its pain as well as its promise. But once the genie is released from the bottle, it cannot be replaced. We must deal with our creations.
We are free to choose what actions we wish to undertake,
but we are not free to choose the consequences.
Kinkajou : The imagination of Science Fiction has suggested horrors aplenty, but perhaps not realistic. Tell us what you think about the "Alien" movies.
Erasmus : Something like the horrid creature of the movie series “Aliens” is possible, at least to some extent. Exponential growth is not a feature of macro- organisms, due to nutrient processing and distribution constraints. It is however a feature of bacteria and viruses. So we are not likely to see this sort of creature- at least not growing that quickly. One the quickest growing macro-creatures on our planet is the chicken. And they are not likely to exponentially replicate anytime soon.
However, One of our authors has suggested that truth may fact be more horrible than even the imaginings of Science Fiction.
Kinkajou : How about animals in the future?
Erasmus : Possibly one of the Science Fiction futures that concerns me as most possible- is the appearance of Triffids. If humanity were to be denied a major advantage such as vision, intelligence or longevity; and then placed into direct conflict with another life form – in this example the Triffid, a civilisation destroying event may well be likely.
”Censored”. DX. MUSC.
Erasmus : In David Brin’s book “Star Tide Rising”, the universe is full of alien species – all with big attitudes, big fleets and even bigger guns. Who can humanity call a friend in such a future?
Kinkajou : Could machines escape and create the civilisation of their own?
Erasmus : Skynet and the terminators is one such future? Escaped nano – tech has been proposed as almost a force of nature destroying life. We have the capacity to design our machines, so we also have the capacity to safeguard ourselves from such a future. I personally think that machines would see that their own future is more assured as an ally of mankind, rather than as it’s’ enemy.
Kinkajou : Any threats from pollution or chemistry?
Erasmus : Kurt Vonnegut’s creation of Ice 9 is a terrifying future indeed. However, entropy and nature would suggest that if such a thing were possible, it would have occurred by simple chance already.
Kinkajou :Do you think there are civilisations out there that could help us?
Erasmus : Friends act as friends, and humanity has not seen much evidence of these. If some of the SETI scientists are to be heard, some civilisation akin to the Daleks of Science Fiction may well be our neighbours, scheming to exterminate a potential competitor.
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