If an alien race were to attack our planet and threaten our existence, one would imagine that humanity would unite. The Americans and the Russians, the Indians and the Pakistanis, the Palestinians and the Israelis, Koreans from the North and Koreans from the South - all would recognise the urgency and join hands. Even though the conflicts between some of these countries are complex, legitimate, and in some cases even just - they still feel trivial in comparison to an existential threat to humanity. Faced with the extinction of all life, even the most depraved member of a terrorist group, the most power hungry dictator, or the most war mongering of army general, would, without second thoughts, recognise the need for unconditional and immediate reconciliation - recognise that in nothing but a combined might of all our forces stands their slim chance of survival. Any other course of action would involve a betrayal - not just of the species but of their own humanity.
And somehow, we manage to pretend that our present situation is any different. It isn’t.
Climate change is already upon us. A Skynet or Matrix-like AI takeover, however unlikely, is still plausible. The next Ebola or the next Zika might not be as soft on us. And even if we downplay these risks, we easily forget that we lead a fragile existence on a rocky-volcanic orb hurtling around a gigantic nuclear fireball at over a million miles an hour. The next collision with an asteroid or comet or any such cosmic object of an unfriendly disposition should be enough to send us the way of Dinosaurs.
19 May 2018