THE TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGE

There is a technological momentum that is gathering speed like a digital tsunami rolling over the world, leaving us breathless and flailing to catch up. This wave is a reality of our times which we have to face, a challenge put to us that needs a response. We need to take a collective deep breath, pause and look at what is happening. Can we not reflect for one minute? We need to look at what is being created for good and ill. Then decide if this is where we want to go and then how it should be done. Are we to be led about by the nose? Remember the train has left the station and we are on the ride with or without our consent. The challenge for all of us is to look at all the personal and social implications of this movement and how best to channel it into ways that are best for all of humanity not just the powers that be. Are we individually going to have some input and control over this digital wave or are just going along for the ride and accept the consequences passively. What we have to understand clearly is that throughout man's history we have progressed greatly on the technological level and this change appears to moving almost exponentially. Throughout our history we have climbed an amazing technological ladder but simultaneously our ability to understand ourselves, deal with our all too human frailties and participate harmoniously in the wider world of human relationships and community has barely progressed since we left the caves. This is the great conundrum and challenge of our times: we can increasingly understand and utilize the outside world for our purposes but we are hollow and primitive inside. We are playing with fire and our internal resources are not up to the task. The great challenge is inner change not the outer technological momentum. Unless we quickly catch up and understand ourselves and our relationship to our fellow man we could be in for a very difficult future. I don't believe that man yet has the depth or intelligence to wield the great forces we are unleashing about us. Unless we meet this challenge now the consequences could be dire. We are at an event horizon of the heart and mind where we have to start taking personal responsibility and have the courage to meet the problem head on. We need a growth spurt of the human spirit and if we can't expand our abilities to cope as people on this planet we might end up facing the extinction of all that is great and wonderful in the human experiment.