Now there's a question worthy of a blog post!  Of course, it depends to some extent on one's age and socioeconomic status; if you "have" then the world's typically all right, if you "have not," it's typically not alright, perhaps seemingly even hostile or, yes, downright evil in some instances. I suspect the answer is far more subtile, however, irregardless of one's age or socioeconomic or political perspective. 

An experimental 1982 American film entitled "Koyaanisqatsi" took on this question. In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means "unbalanced life." In a trilogy of films, the second of which was entitled "Powaqqatsi" (1988) and the third and final work, "Naqoyqatsi" (2002), different aspects of the relationship between humans, nature and technology are explored. The conclusion: It's not so much about good or evil as balance. 

So, is the world out of balance? I'll leave that to the readers of this blog to ponder and explore. I personally think so. But I'm not wholly convinced that it's out of balance solely because of humans, nature or technology. It's more about a gradual awakening of all humankind, not unlike Carl Jasper's Axial Age when humanity "discovered" religion. This time, it's a broader awakening, a sort of expansion of consciousness that calls on each of us to look more closely at our actions and their consequences in regard to other humans, nature and, dare I say it, technology, ultimately artificially intelligent technology. And this coming on the heels of a revolution in physics called M-superstring theory, that offers to explain the nature of birth, life, death and infinity. 

If the world's out of balance, is that good or bad? The answer to that I don't know. But I do feel that humanity (and to a greater extent all "conscious" animals and perhaps plants, too) are poised on the edge of a revolution in thinking greater than that resulting from the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution combined. In face, perhaps it is the very result of these two great "unbalances" that we appear to be spinning even more wildly and wobbly than ever before. 

#good #evil #Trump #balance #revolution #Janik