I heard a software developer speak yesterday on the radio. He was speculating on futuristic technology, such as the home fabrication of goods via the Internet. He was excited at the concept of being able to order a T-shirt on line and being able to physically download that T-shirt without leaving the house. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.
I was astounded by the level of worldly myopia in this man. I assume he is educated. I could not understand how this man was so oblivious to the problems of overpopulation and declining natural resources, when the interviewer asked him about the role of environmental factors in these predictions.
Then I remembered. Technology today is motivated by the same factors which motivated the technology which brought us the Industrial Revolution and the carbon economy. That motivation is associated with accommodating overpopulation, rather than addressing it. It is associated with compensation for environmental deterioration, rather than avoiding it.
Technology alone will not solve the problems of overpopulation and environmental disaster. A conscious revolution in the hearts and minds of the general human population may do this. That revolution begins with each person's awareness and commitment to the human species above governments and corporations. Wellness must become superior to wealth in the human consciousness.
Individual practice of this consciousness daily is like a beneficial virus, which spreads with contact to others. Infect the world with your practice of mindfulness and compassion by example.
