"Our human and perhaps posthuman futures will grow out of astonishing, unpredictable work being conducted right now in a thousand labs, but also from the conversations - cliched, impassioned, ignorant, learned - between millions of people, thousands of millions, in this pivotal century.
One of those conversing people will be me.
Another will be you."
Damien Broderick, Ferocious Minds
Lots of books on the environment (like James Lovelock's 'The Revenge of Gaia') have pictures in them of the earth from space at night, showing the cities of Europe and North America lit up across the map like constellations. The implication, and reprimand, is that humans have ruined the beautiful pristine earth with their evil development, and now, thanks to their unnatural electric lights, it's not even dark at night any more.
There is, of course, a different perspective on this, and a pretty good example of it is here, from Stewart Brand, the cleverest man on earth who lives in a converted tugboat. A great example of how to give a presentation. The music, if you're interested, is by Brian Eno.
"The stars have shined down on earth's life for billions of years, and now we're shining right back up."
