T H E T R O U B L E W I T H N O W
"I tolerate this century but I don't enjoy it."
THE DOCTOR - An Unearthly Child 1963
THE DOCTOR - An Unearthly Child 1963
When I was eight or ten or so-years-old I played a game of imagination (always a strange, insular little chap). It centred on counting my blessings. There I was in the self congratulatory, jingoistic, propaganda saturated glow of the post coronation '50s analysing what made me so special.
This is how a mini-me defined special; I was born a boy, 50/50 chance there, dodged that one. Born first, so elder brother status. I was born English, and England was the best country in the world. We had (I was taught at the time) a world girdling empire. I lived in London. The capital city in the best country in the world. I lived in east London the best part of the capital city of the best country in the world. I lived in a temperate climate, so no monsoons, earthquakes or famines.
I was certain that there was something very, very special about my world; and, although I couldn't frame articulate it in this way at such a tender age, what I was really celebrating was my location in space/time. And whilst the intervening 50 plus years have taught me to modify my opinion of myself, they have only increased my certainty that these are very special times indeed. It's simply the optimum time for me to be me and for you to be you.
This is how a mini-me defined special; I was born a boy, 50/50 chance there, dodged that one. Born first, so elder brother status. I was born English, and England was the best country in the world. We had (I was taught at the time) a world girdling empire. I lived in London. The capital city in the best country in the world. I lived in east London the best part of the capital city of the best country in the world. I lived in a temperate climate, so no monsoons, earthquakes or famines.
I was certain that there was something very, very special about my world; and, although I couldn't frame articulate it in this way at such a tender age, what I was really celebrating was my location in space/time. And whilst the intervening 50 plus years have taught me to modify my opinion of myself, they have only increased my certainty that these are very special times indeed. It's simply the optimum time for me to be me and for you to be you.
That's the up-side; here's the down-side (literally, very literally). I firmly believe that right now we are at a nodal point in the story of mankind. You know that unmistakable feeling when you reach the vertical extreme of a roller-coaster? You haven't started the terrifying decent, but even eyes tight shut there's that feeling in the pit of your stomach and you know it's coming soon. Don't get me wrong, I still feel that same sense of gratitude and awe at being alive at this particular point in history that I did as a 10-year-old. But, here's the crunch, I have that exhilarating feeling (intuition, call it what you will) that we are at the top of an impossibly unsustainable cycle; and that if we descend at the same rate that we went up the knell of this particular bell curve will have very ominous tones indeed and that it is unlikely that it (and we) will reverberate for more than two or three generations. And when it happens it wont be a bang it'll be a whimper.
When presented with the evidence it doesn't take a genius to understand this. We kid ourselves that our ingenuity manifested through science will enable us to go on forever. Dream on; it's science that got us in this fix. I can only think of one decision prior to the 20th century the outcome of which could jeopardise the future of our whole population (the ultimate example of the law of unforeseen outcomes. During the 'burning times' one of the 'infallible' popes got it into his head that cats, through their association with so called witches, were in fact demons and ordered that they be burnt on sight. This reduced the European cat numbers to such an extent that there was a massive explosion in the rat population - a perfect vehicle for the flea which transmitted the Black Death which swept through Europe).
When presented with the evidence it doesn't take a genius to understand this. We kid ourselves that our ingenuity manifested through science will enable us to go on forever. Dream on; it's science that got us in this fix. I can only think of one decision prior to the 20th century the outcome of which could jeopardise the future of our whole population (the ultimate example of the law of unforeseen outcomes. During the 'burning times' one of the 'infallible' popes got it into his head that cats, through their association with so called witches, were in fact demons and ordered that they be burnt on sight. This reduced the European cat numbers to such an extent that there was a massive explosion in the rat population - a perfect vehicle for the flea which transmitted the Black Death which swept through Europe).
We have enjoyed this measure of safety simply because our population was so small, and our technology so primitive, for any decision, no matter how disasterous, to make any real difference. In the 20th century it all changed. Let's look at what can wipe us out now, overpopulation, global warming, economic collapse, over-reliance on technology, nuclear war, nuclear accident, genetic engineering, overuse of antibiotics, epidemic (mutant strains of bacteria and virus), greenhouse gasses, depletion of rainforests, food and especially water shortage - and those are just the ones we know about. (You can almost hear the four horsemen saddling up.) The world is so precariously balanced that one wrong decision, by one individual, could create the 'perfect storm'.
As ever, there’s one crucial question for anyone involved in any kind of adventure, magical or otherwise. And that's current position. The necessity of knowing precisely where you are before you attempt to plot a course. Extending the navigation metaphor: three points of reference are required to ‘triangulate’ a position. That’s on land or sea; but we are effectively plotting a position in magical space/time, so we need a different set of reference points. I'd suggest the following...
Let's have a cold hard look at precisely what makes our civilisation so radically different from the preceding 7,000 years of recorded history. Below is a brief account of the major events of the 20th century and their impact on the way we live our lives today.
And if Magic is making change in conformity to the will we've certainly made some magic this century.
As ever, there’s one crucial question for anyone involved in any kind of adventure, magical or otherwise. And that's current position. The necessity of knowing precisely where you are before you attempt to plot a course. Extending the navigation metaphor: three points of reference are required to ‘triangulate’ a position. That’s on land or sea; but we are effectively plotting a position in magical space/time, so we need a different set of reference points. I'd suggest the following...
- magical (see Magical History and Magical Timeline)
- mundane (see below)
- personal (your own stage of magical development)
Let's have a cold hard look at precisely what makes our civilisation so radically different from the preceding 7,000 years of recorded history. Below is a brief account of the major events of the 20th century and their impact on the way we live our lives today.
And if Magic is making change in conformity to the will we've certainly made some magic this century.
M A J O R F E A T U R E S O F T H E L A S T 1 0 0 Y E A R S
There have been more technological advances in the 20th century than in all of preceding history. And populations have mirrored this progress (see above). These factors have triggered a fundamental adjustment in the western attitude to just about every aspect of society and behaviour. The most important in my mind is the way we feel about, and interact with, the other inhabitants of this planet.
Whereas a 10-year-old in the ‘50s would have his head brimming over with stories of white hunter heroes like Alan Quartermain slaughtering his way across the African we now have the CITES Treaty. (Which must be perplexing for native peoples who have lived in ecological balance with wildlife for millennia.) The same restriction applies to slaughtering whales, or buffalo or, for that matter, the Zulu or Fuzzy Wuzzi or Apache or Hun. The same 10-year-old could freely fantasise about being the first to run the 4 minute mile, climb Everest, sail solo around the world, be the first man in space. Now all you can hope for is to nibble a bit off someone else’s record. Poor food indeed. Global travel, once the ultimate danger strewn adventure, is available for anyone with the price of the fare. Communications and information technology, modern transportation, and medical advances had radically altered our daily lives.
The west has grown a conscience; the world has shrunk in size; and life seems a lot less fun. But we still have magic; other dimensions to explore, fresh unmapped territory… And if we are going to get out of the mess our success has brought us we are going to have to be magical indeed. There is certainly no going back. The true magicians of the 21st century are going to be the geeks. The quantum physicists. And MIT is going to be their Hogwarts. The general population hasn't yet an inkling of what these guys are up to and yet it is already shaping our world. It you think that the 20th century was eventful just wait...and if you can find the time...wonder.
Whereas a 10-year-old in the ‘50s would have his head brimming over with stories of white hunter heroes like Alan Quartermain slaughtering his way across the African we now have the CITES Treaty. (Which must be perplexing for native peoples who have lived in ecological balance with wildlife for millennia.) The same restriction applies to slaughtering whales, or buffalo or, for that matter, the Zulu or Fuzzy Wuzzi or Apache or Hun. The same 10-year-old could freely fantasise about being the first to run the 4 minute mile, climb Everest, sail solo around the world, be the first man in space. Now all you can hope for is to nibble a bit off someone else’s record. Poor food indeed. Global travel, once the ultimate danger strewn adventure, is available for anyone with the price of the fare. Communications and information technology, modern transportation, and medical advances had radically altered our daily lives.
The west has grown a conscience; the world has shrunk in size; and life seems a lot less fun. But we still have magic; other dimensions to explore, fresh unmapped territory… And if we are going to get out of the mess our success has brought us we are going to have to be magical indeed. There is certainly no going back. The true magicians of the 21st century are going to be the geeks. The quantum physicists. And MIT is going to be their Hogwarts. The general population hasn't yet an inkling of what these guys are up to and yet it is already shaping our world. It you think that the 20th century was eventful just wait...and if you can find the time...wonder.
[1] Rats 'n' Cats' - the law of unforeseen outcomes. During the 'burning times' one of the 'infallible' popes got it into his head that cats, through their association with so called witches, were in fact demons and ordered that they be burnt on sight. This reduced the European cat numbers to such an extent that there was an explosion in the rat population - a perfect vehicle for the flea which transmitted the Black Death.