Must We Survive?

Looking ahead to the far future it would be nice to see humans survive - as in some sort of roughly biological humanoid shaped sense - as there is actually a lot of stuff that is pretty good about that and our current form is a chapter in the long saga of life on our world.

In fact we are arguably a very important chapter in that story as not only are we the first (known) species on this planet to achieve highly developed concepts and traits that are shared by many other lifeforms on this planet such as communication, technology, emotion, etc. but we are also the first species to arise that now effectively controls its own destiny often in defiance of more basic universal influences on biological life such as natural selection.

We are also pretty special in that we have now reached the point (just about anyway) where the creation of new life by ourselves is no longer limited solely to biological procreation. It looks likely that in the near future we will be capable of creating new life of one new kind or another. This would be either through modification of the current human 'original' species or by building new biological entities from scratch using the more fundamental chemical building blocks that life on our world currently operates from. Perhaps more dramatically from a universal viewpoint we will also be capable of creating life that is totally non-biological.

Another distinguishing feature of our species is that we are spiritual and capable of reciprocal spirituality. Although that word has as many different meanings as there are people on the planet it is none the less a species-specific characteristic unique to humanity as far as we know. We have the capacity to conceptualise spiritual ideas and to respond (or not) accordingly to them irrespective of their origins.

Spirituality has proven to be such a universal trait in human society and culture down through the millennia that I think that not only would it be of interest but perhaps of necessity for any future human-derived lifeforms to experience and appreciate it. And if our sense of spirituality does indeed connect us with something beyond the physicality of our immediate universe than it would be unethical to deny that to any of our creations if they possessed the capacity to appreciate it and connect with it as well.

I'm currently reading a new book which features an essay by David Wilkinson, a theologian from Durham on the Biblical understanding of creation and humanity's place in it. He suggests that the image of God in humanity

"is that part of creation that is capable of being concious of and responsive in its relationship to the Creator."

which enables both continuity with the rest of creation as well as a God-given uniqueness. If this is the case and other new human-derived beings also reflected this fully as beings derived through ourselves, our culture (and having the freedom to not be limited to either) and spiritual relationship would it be necessary for the original human creators to survive in order for the New Creation and return of Christ as both envisioned by Christianity to come to pass?

Although I have already said that I would like us to I don't think it is necessary as we will have created true successors, a new form of children, in every sense of the word. The only difference would be the method of replication used. We already except this in a small way today with some children fertilised outside the womb and then implanted and allowed to mature naturally inside a woman. This change in reproduction, or rather additional ways of reproducing, might not be a single giant step that creates a radical difference between us and 'them' but rather it could happen through a variety and a continuum of different methods bridging the many extremes.

My personal hope is that all would find a place in an expanded society. It is likely that one of the drivers for creating these derived life forms will be the expansion of humanity into previously inaccessible environments such as the deep oceans, other planets or space itself. Indeed non-biological life is likely to be the first life from our world to reach the stars. They will be tomorrow's ambassadors and explorers for our society to the universe. If this is the case I would argue that there is plenty of room for all and no reason why humans should necessarily be replaced entirely or inevitably either.

From a Christian point of view the Bible talks of a restored creation at the return of Christ which we all look forward to. Some would argue that this precludes the extinction of biological humanity before the return of Christ. I would however disagree. I think is reading too much into a text written by and for a people to whom these newer concepts would have no meaning. We must look at the wider message of the Bible and creation to think about these ideas rather than over literallising specific verses or passages with a 21st century viewpoint.

If these new creations are our children then they would also be created in the image of God just as we are. Being created in the image of God is a massive concept that theologians have wrestled with for centuries, but an important point to note on it is that it is less tied to physical appearance (as God is spirit) and more to do with delegated responsibility, representation and stewardship. If our creations share this component of our 'essence' they would fully capable (and willing!) of continuing the Christian mission and legacy independent of ourselves. Indeed, in their own niche locations they may continue and expand it without any contact with original humanity.

In fact it would be quite interesting to see how such new life would discuss and develop their understandings of theology both in conjunction with and independent of ourselves. Given the breadth of interpretation on theology in the last 4000 odd years I think we'd come across some big surprises. (For example our current intergalactic understanding of the universe is completely different to the ancient Hebrew view of the cosmos and the understanding of scripture is appropriately recast in the journey from the Hebrew viewpoint to our current one.)

So, are we necessary? For the moment and for the foreseeable future - yes. Must we survive? No. That however is not something to be shunned or feared. In fact if our species does its job well, we would be both valued if we survive and mourned by our descendants if we don't.

Plants

My ex-colleague and friend over at Eating British blog has been providing me with some advice of late to help me grow my own plants of late. Bring on the Joy and Dr. Fibroid have also been supplying me with plant-related growing materials when (many) people point out they should be in larger pots, fed and/or watered for example.

Plants are actually surprisingly interesting. They do just sit there but they grow and change and it is interesting to watch them go through their cycles of growth, flowering, etc and it often takes me by surprise that changes in them happen over relatively short time.

I am currently growing a small selection of plants:

1. Tomato plant given to me by the youngest member of my small group. It looks a bit raggerdy after its holiday travels and repotting but encouragingly it has almost as many new leaves growing on it as old ones that look like they're about to drop off. Its also really tall now. Taller than said small grouper for example. Think Day of the Triffids and RUN!
   
2. Easter Cactus. This is a pretty low maintenance plant that lives on the window sill in my bedroom and makes awesome purple/white flowers a number of times throughout the year depending on how stingy I am being with watering it.
3. There is also a basil plant that I am babysitting for a friend over the summer. It is growing nicely but I have had to remove a few duff leaves that looked diseased. I hope this was the right thing to do... I've recently moved it away from the tomato plant to avoid possible contamination as the tomato plant pot has a white film over 45% of its surface now which worries me a wee bit.
4. Unknown plant. The label fell off the pot a while back. Massive white flowers though. Likes lots of water and should probably be repotted as well, but hey, its lasted years already without that so why change things now?

I may add to these soon enough. I quite fancy a yucca plant in the lounge for instance but that would require me to have bit of a rearrange. Which might be coming anyway as I am thinking of a few permanent hairy house guests...

Prehistoric Murder?

I was reading an article the other day that was discussing the evidence for the cause of an injury found in the ribs of a Neanderthal's remains. The researchers involved believe it to be consistent with a hurled pointed projectile-type weapon. Such weapons Neanderthal technology didn't posses, but the ancestors of today's modern humans did and the two human species overlapped in time and co-existed for many thousands of years. The paper is featured in the latest edition of the Journal of Human evolution.

Although there are some other possibilities the case is convincing enough to give thought to how the different past human species interacted with each other. Over there last few decades there have been suggestions ranging from genocide to interbreeding to species specific isolation. If this all holds up then it would be one of the earliest pieces of evidence that there was violence between the two human species.

I was discussing last month some thoughts on what spirituality might have meant to these other humans and one of the things I was considering was the human-human relationship as an reflection of the God-human relationship and I guess if this paper is accurate in its conclusions there is some evidence that we were screwing that up a long time ago. At least to other humans who might well be classified as 'different' to a self-congratulated norm perceived by our own ancestors.

This is just one incident and there could have been many more mutual and positive ones to balance it with. However given our ongoing habit of violence as a species I wonder just how far have we grown collectively despite God's ongoing attempts of revelation, love and example to us.

It also makes me wonder how poorly we as a society or individuals would treat any other novel intelligent being that we might encounter in the future.

40 Years On

This month is 40 years on from the first manned Moon landings! I've been reading around them a lot over the last year both from a technical perspective and looking at what it meant to the people involved directly and to the wider world as well. Forty years seems like a long time when your only about half that age (you know, like me...) but its recent enough to get a real feeling for what was going on and the excitement that surrounded it.

The Apollo 11 crew are really true inspirations and heroes that I think should be held up as amongst the best that can be offered to others as examples to be followed. Although they were supported by a huge effort and thousands of people back home on Earth these three guys were the ones who actually went to the Moon and took all the unknowns and risks in their stride. It takes something extra to not only hang your life on the line in the face of the unpredictable and the undone, but also to trust your life to the hard work of all those who helped prepare for that journey in what is pretty archaic technology from our perspective today.

There's some great stuff about discussing every aspect of what happened, but for a taster the BBC has a fascinating article on the development of the Saturn V rocket that launched the astronauts to the Moon.

One film I would recommend to all is called 'In the Shadow of the Moon' which I was fortunate enough to see at the cinema last year. It's an awesome film and explores the development of the Apollo moon landing programme with some incredible rare film and visuals from the time and interviews throughout with both the astronauts who went and their support crews back on Earth. It is el cheapo on Amazon currently so grab yourself a slice of history if you can.

The three members of the Apollo 11 crew have also recently been reunited for the anniversary and have had some fascinating things to say about the original mission and the possible future of crewed exploration from our world. A great quote from the normally very private Armstrong is that journeying to the Moon was "the ultimate peaceful competition" which I think is perhaps something that can maybe give our current terrorism-focused world not only new direction but also hope for a better future if we continue to take it on board.

If you think the whole Moon landing thing was a hoax (and there are a growing number of people who do) you're in luck as the original Moon landing sites have recently been photographed by a space probe currently in orbit around the Moon. If you're still in doubt there is of course always Buzz Aldrin's (the second man on the Moon) somewhat unique 'proof'....

The future of Moon exploration is currently under both review and development so at present we don't know whether we will go back (or elsewhere), but the next generation of vehicles to get us there are well under way in case we do in case we decide to.

Exploring space and the solar system although done cheaper by robotic explorers is a goal and an objective that plays not only to the God given human desire to know and understand but is also perhaps something to help reorientate our global society from mistrust to co-operation. The excitement of space and its possibilities creates an itch in the soul that simply calls for direct human participation.

And at a more fundamental level as long as humanity is confined to this single world, it is at practical risk of extinction. If we want our species and our culture to survive we will have to spread off world to avoid destruction by an asteroid or comet strike. Not to be alarmist but the clock is ticking and it has been known to be ticking for a long time. As recent images of Jupiter from the last week or so show such strikes can come quite out of the blue without any prior warning...


Earth is in a cosmic firing line and practically we need not only a cosmic escape pod but other homes to be established and spread across space. And we also need the adventure of doing so to protect and better our society.

Publish Post

Thoughts on the Future

Interesting article from Seth Shostak over on space.com, echoing many of my own thoughts on alien and machine life in the future.

JibJab on Obama

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!