More species awareness is needed
If we look at the effects of this virus, we could say that, as a species, it has held up a mirror to us. It has made us see our shame. This is the pandemic of the scientific-technological revolution, the first pandemic that has been able to paralyse the economies of all the systems on planet Earth. Surely we can draw several conclusions, the first is that it has shown us that we can not anticipate problems. All sorts of theories have been developed speculating on different assumptions, such as wondering what might happen if an asteroid crashed into Earth. But it turns out that no asteroid was needed; a tiny molecule appeared and put the king in check. It has exposed the destructuring of the system.
It has become clear that there is no clear species awareness. And we have several examples at different levels. The European Union has proven to be a community with feet of clay. There has been a fundamental shift in positions of power, and China has established itself as a leading player in global geopolitical control. It’s no coincidence, because historically, demographics have a very important weight in evolution.
Our challenge is to think about how science and technology should be socialised. Either we decide we are moving towards responsible evolution and conscious and sustainable progress, or our species is very likely to collapse. I don’t necessarily mean extinction, but if the collapses are cyclical, if we collapse in sequence, no one is able to predict what might happen. At least I don’t dare to make a prediction.
To get out of this crisis we need to raise species awareness to mitigate the impact on us. The socialisation of the industrial revolution cost us two hundred million deaths, between the two world wars. What will the socialisation of the technological revolution cost?
We need to decide where we want to go as a species and make brave decisions, related to energy redistribution, which lead to an exponential reduction in consumption. And to do so will require consensus.
A crisis is no opportunity, it is a real disaster of considerable dimensions and it tests the whole system. Crises come, most of the time, from things we do wrong ourselves. When a system does not solve the problems it generates, it runs the risk of collapse. If pressure is generated and there is no decompression, at some point the system explodes.
The solutions will be given to us by scientists, not politicians. Coronavirus requires a planetary protocol that is agreed upon by the consensus of people who are engaged in research and who are working to find solutions. And this is an issue that we need to address as a species, not as a country. And the solution is not to globalise, but to planetise. This involves having respect for all cultures and conserving them, because they are a source of knowledge.
Without self-criticism and without acknowledging that humans do things that go against human evolution itself, we are making a big mistake.