A Few of the Things We Can Do On the Way Down From Peak Humanity
I think we’re done. Well, almost.
I saw the first movie The Matrix when it came out in theaters. I remember how they depicted the height of humanity in 1999. I remember how I felt watching the scene where they recounted the history of the Matrix and how it came to be. I recall seeing the tall shiny building with “Malfa” on the side, and the well-dressed people walking on the virtual street. Then there was the virtual woman in the red dress. At the time, that was peak humanity to me.
23 years later, I can’t help but think we’ve crested the peak of humanity. I see our birth rates declining, our education systems declining, and our general welfare declining. There used to be a recognizable sense of optimism in America. I don’t see it now. There used to be a sense that we could recover from our setbacks, but that’s gone, too.
And yet I also see a sense of relief. It’s like humans have finally realized that they’re stressing the planet too much and that we must make a change. We need to use restraint. I also see that the damage we’ve done to the earth has placed very real constraints on our capacity to grow.
A recent study has shown that air pollution significantly increases our risk of cancer. Another study has shown that microplastics are…
