Introduction

recap

verb

riːˈkap,ˈriːkap/

1.

state again as a summary; recapitulate.

"a way of recapping the story so far"

noun

ˈriːkap/

1.

a summary of what has been said; a recapitulation.

"a quick recap of the idea and its main advantages"

Why humanity recap and what do I mean by it?

Dear as-of-yet non-existent blog followers,

It has occurred to me that we are in need of a recap. After all, we have lived on this planet now for at least tens of thousands of years – depending on how you define “we”, that is to say humanity – and as of late we have both created and destroyed a great deal of beautiful things. We have sure made our impact known, and if the gods are indeed watching us from above, they may well decide that it’s about time to put an end to this little experiment – not so obedient anymore, their pet project “humanity” has run amok and does not now know how to extricate itself from the delicate situation it has created for itself. This is not just about the warming climate, which is starting make itself known now even in the Scandinavian peninsula where I draw breath – it is at heart about a collective process of thought and sentiment and spirit and attainment that does at last seem to be close to wearying itself out. Does it not occur to you also, that most things that we could create already seem to have been created in the past, so that the we as a race seem more and more to belong to the past, with little less to attain or achieve for the future? The future, they say, belongs to the robots and the AI, and possibly to a future caste of upgraded superhumans. Whereas we, present humanity, find ourselves at the peak of a drawn-out human experience, cherishing our memories, yet unable to add very much to our collection of achievements without post-human aid. After all, the great majority of ethical, philosophical and religious thought, art, literature, lofty ideals and spiritual traditions have already been formed long ago; the low-hanging fruit as been picked, as it were, leaving us to admire the ancients, while only a few fruits remain to be harvested at the very top of the tree. As for modern technology, it is fast becoming inexplicable to most of us, and we wonder, indeed, whether we can at all steer the course for the future any longer; machines are evermore present, God is evermore distant, and the pace is quickening constantly, according to the dictates of said machines and the invisible market forces. Increasingly dependent on these machines, we lose our self-confidence as a species, and resign ourselves to watching the future unfold, not really convinced that we wish for anymore “progress” than that which has already occurred. So we drift, and we begin to look backwards instead. For has it not been one marvellous adventure? Whatever our common legacy will be, and regardless of how long we will remain here, it does seem like an opportune moment to take pause and reflect on how we got here. Therefore, this blog intends to focus on exactly that: on matters of history, with a bent towards the religious, cultural and spiritual, while not neglecting the simply political. Contemporary social, cultural, technological, economic and political and spiritual matters may also enter the fray, as well as musing on the future of civilization, culture and nature. Every now and then I may sidetrack a little by raising other issues I find interesting, ranging from astrology to lifestyle issues to contemporary ethical dilemmas. Generally speaking this is going to be a dense blog, and there is likely to be a shortage of videos of funny animals and pictures of myself doing marvellous things with marvellous friends – thus have you been warned.

This being said, I hereby declare the blog set up.