Article: Another World Is Here: Knowing Nature Through Technology, Part II
WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Knowing Nature Through Technology, Part II
The idea of wiring the planet offends some people’s sensibilities. To some, it betokens a lack of reverance for wild nature. Some even seem to think that knowing more about nature is somehow transgressive. It seems to me that the opposite is true, that destroying things in ignorance is profoundly worse, and that anyone whose sympathy with nature is based on nature’s unknowable-ness has housed their faith in a home of straw, and the wind is picking up.
It is not at all difficult to imagine the day when the entire planet is, to varying degrees, a smart place. When salmon runs and rainforests and the atmosphere itself speak to us, in a sense, through our instruments.
But will we know what to listen for? That strikes me as a whole different question. Science, despite its aspirations to the contrary, is a cultural endeavor. Data are never value-free. How might we develop a culture of planetary science that is most inclined to make wise choices, choices which can then best inform our societal choices about how to best act to preserve, protect, restore and recreate natural systems?
Basically, these people want to hook up real life places with sensors to monitor the environment,so that they’ll be able to better manage and monitor it.
In a way, this technology scares me quite a bit, in terms of what it’s capable of, and to a certain extent, I DO feel like humans are acting irreverently, as if they own the planet. But at the same time, humans have SUCH an impact on the world, and really, they do need to act as stewards of this place we call Earth…