Reading the news today, I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes in Luang Por Thoon’s book, Natural Disasters. He wrote,
“People in this age are commendable for their ability to create technological resources to enhance daily life. Knowledge is tucked away in innovative devices as a proxy for the human memory. It is thus of concern that humans believe they are clever for placing this knowledge in the electronic memories of insecure devices.”
With that in mind, there were reports of a huge power outage in the Southwest, affecting 1 million people in Southern California, Arizona, and Mexico. In San Diego, business and transportation were brought to a halt as trains and trolleys stopped running, planes could not take off from San Diego’s airport, incoming flights had to be rerouted to airports close by, and massive traffic jams abounded as traffic lights went out of commission. The blackout also affected water quality as sewage spilled out from treatment plants onto beaches and rivers, while pump stations and filtration stations were shut down. Residents were told to boil water to prevent contamination. What’s more, the cause of the outage may be understood and revealed…..in a couple of weeks or months.
And in other news, one of the countless perils of technology was brought to light. In an experiment over the course of six months, 20 GB of mis-addressed emails containing sensitive information were intercepted by doppleganger domains (doppleganger domains are domain names that are similar to legitimate domains, differing in punctuation of an extra period or something subtle to that nature. For example, us.bank.com could be a doppleganger domain for usbank.com). As a result of email typos, many invoices, employee information, account details, credit card information, and much more were routed to doppleganger domains. Companies (and as an extension, their customers) that haven’t purchased rights to their doppleganger domains are vulnerable for theft of sensitive information. What’s even scarier is that some of these domains have already been registered….in China, where the doppleganger domain owners could easily (and legitimately) gain access to these companies.
These articles remind us not to be afraid, but to realize that perils of technology and natural disasters are all around us. As our society develops technologically and becomes accustomed to more and more conveniences, we also become more and more vulnerable. With our increasing dependence on electrically powered devices, we are gradually losing our abilities to calculate, to remember, to think, to survive.
Thus, we must find ways to protect ourselves in the short term. I don’t mean going out to purchase so-called survival kits, but I’m talking about evaluating our strengths and weaknesses. If we were to be without power for an indefinite period of time, how would we find potable water, how would we stay cool or warm, how would we cook our food, how would we discern poisonous plants from the edible? The people who grew up in an era devoid of technology still possess this “old” knowledge, but they are quickly becoming obsolete. Shouldn’t we learn how they grew and nurtured plants instead of relying so heavily on the supermarket’s produce aisle? Shouldn’t we learn what techniques materials they used to build fires, fuel gas lanterns, and cook food? Wouldn’t it be better to learn from the “old” people now instead of scrambling to do so when it’s too late?
We can also prepare ourselves for the long term. Luang Por Thoon often talked about either seriously practicing to the point that we do not have to be reborn, or practicing and cultivating merit such that we can secure a spot in a heavenly abode. There, with enough credit, we would be able to wait and choose to be reborn during the era of the Buddha Mettaya or at least a time when the Earth is more peaceful. Do we have what it takes to pursue either of these options? To date, what have we invested into each of these options?
It’s time for serious self-evaluation.
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