Finding Our Ecological Niche in the Web of Life

Guest Post by Kate Kheel from Safe Tech International (for the Blessed Solstice)

Finding Our Ecological Niche in the Web of Life

By Kate Kheel from Safe Tech International; Image by bess.hamiti@gmail.com from Pixabay

In a thought-provoking essay, The Simple Story of Civilization, author Tom Murphy condenses the approximately 2.5 million years we humans have been here on Earth into an average life span of 75 years. In this model, the first 70 years represent the period during which different species of humans evolved. The last five years correlate to the age of Homo Sapiens (starting c. 200,000 years ago) where we lived and evolved in a kind of ecological homeostasis with the rest of the natural world. 

The last 15 weeks (beginning c.10,000 years ago real time) represents the beginnings of agriculture where we set ourselves apart from, and above the rest of the natural world, and when we began to view Earth as a mere repository of resources for human endeavors. With the advent of agriculture came cities, property, surplus, storage, enslavement of both animals and humans­, armies, and hierarchy. 

In the last 36 hours, a mere blip in time, we dialed things up with the discovery of fossil fuels imagining we now had unlimited powers and could manifest all manner of creature comforts. 

The remaining 12 hours (representing the last 50 years in real time) bring us to the present day of “global ecological devastation” in Murphy’s own words.

Most recently, with the exponential proliferation of technology and AI, our hubristic notions of super-power have been amplified adding fuel to the already expansionary fires of unchecked growth and resource extraction. 

Implications of the technological Tsunami for 21^st century warfighting

War too has morphed over time from person-to-person combat, perhaps atop horses or on war elephants, to the current battlefield of AI-controlled systems that weave together Earth, sea, air, space, and cyber space. Invisible electromagnetic battles now take place through the airwaves, with cyber warfare a click away. Remote-controlled nuclear warheads boast speeds up to 20 times that of sound, and nuclear Armageddon is precariously locked in a global stalemate of mutually assured destruction – which, according to the Doomsday Clock, is currently 90 seconds before midnight.

The world’s military is a major contributor to our global ecological devastation. In 2022 it accounted for an estimated 5.5% of global CO2 emissions, although likely that figure is higher as militaries are quite secretive and not required to report emissions. The US military alone is the world’s largest institutional consumer of hydrocarbons “…belching out more emissions than industrialised nations like Portugal and Denmark” in the words of Lorraine Mallinder from Aljazeera. 

Mallinder goes on to say that military expansion has also impacted air quality, ecosystems, biodiversity, and the health of people living near bases. 

Outer space has become pivotal for warfighting and is now being decked out with thousands of satellites to weave together, coordinate, and manage the deluge of data flowing in from all branches of the military as well as from civilian sources. 

Transmitters include cell towers, satellites, underwater sensors, surveillance cameras, cell phones, smart cities, facial recognition technology and other biometric markers, robots, the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT) consisting of networked helmets, combat gear and other wearables, etc. 

AI algorithms sort through and make sense of these vast streams of data and provide actionable items to militaries. 

In addition, electromagnetic radiation has significantly upped the ante in three new domains of warfighting: 

• Cyber Warfare – attacks on computer systems and connected infrastructure 

• Electronic Warfare – battles in the electromagnetic spectrum; electromagnetic pulse attacks potentially downing a nations entire electrical grid; or directed energy weapons used to fry components. 

• Cognitive Warfare – manipulation of how people think, feel, and act. 

Other means of expansion being used to recklessly hurtle us all from 5G to 6G, FutureG, and beyond include: 

• Dual use technology where militaries join forces with industry to speed innovation.

• Proliferation – whereby satellites and other systems scale to thousands or tens of thousands, so the loss of a few won’t affect the overall viability of the system. 

• Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) where warfighting is increasingly handed over to AI-controlled weapons and systems that make decisions at blistering speeds, while relegating humans to mere bystanders attempting to stay in the loop if at all possible. 

With the US and China vying for first mover advantage, over seventy countries sporting government space agencies, and many satellite programs springing up from the private sector as well, we are fast depleting Earth’s “resources,” turbo-charging warfighting, while clogging up the Heavens with ever more debris

Reflections

If the notion of digital technology as a testament to human ingenuity seems a bit grim, and techno-optimism – technology’s power to “save mankind” – is beginning to sound lame…. well, you’re not alone. Many of us are grieving deeply as we bear witness to the harms being inflicted on all Life.  

Personally, I find some solace and inspiration in the following phrase from the Hebrew blessing recited after a meal: V’achalta, v’savata, ou v’rachta – And you shall eat, and be satiated, and you shall bless. 

And you shall eat – in Hebrew v-achalta – refers to more than just consuming food. It means taking in or experiencing something from “outside” of ourselves and allowing it to inform or transform us as it is “digested” into our mind, heart, and body – e.g., smelling a flower, listening to a song, or navigating a life challenge.

And you shall be satiated – v’savata – refers to the sweet point of satiation where we have just enough but not one drop too much. When we ingest food deplete of nutrients or partake of experiences devoid of meaning, we are left feeling unsatisfied and prone to over consume. But when we partake of the substance of real life – not the illusory and frivolous distractions of for-sale and for-profit substitutes – then enough is truly and generously enough.

Ou’verachta — and you shall bless. We lend our unique signature to what we “consume” as we send it back out into the world via our thoughts, intentions, words, and deeds – hopefully, in the form of blessings to all living beings and to Earth herself. 

If we can find our eco-niche – our unique place in the web of life – we will interrelate with one another with respect, restraint, and love…  and our actions – both individual and collective – will bring blessing, not war.    

During this vanishingly small moment in evolutionary time brought about by the confluence of 

• separating ourselves from the web of life

• the desire for dominion

• the discovery of fossil fuels

•  and more recently supercharged by digital technology and AI, 

… we humans seem to have lost our way and have become a threat to all living beings. 

But there’s an undertow growing stronger by the day beneath the tidal waves of consumerism and war: A powerful movement of people dedicating every fiber of their being to help shift our global consciousness to one of inter-being, and to rekindle greater reverence and care for all Life. The movement isn’t new but thankfully is growing by leaps and bounds, fueled by our collective grief and our inherent reverence for Life. 

Many wonderful authors, visionaries, speakers etc. are contributing to the movement, each with their own unique flavor. Following is a small sampling of a few I have found particularly inspiring. 

Bill Plotkin from the Animas Institute has developed a program for guiding soul initiation and assisting people in becoming Visionary Artisans of Cultural Evolution. Author and visionary Jeremy Lent invites people to join Deep Transformation Network, a growing group of people feeling their way into a more eco-conscious future. In the podcast series, The Great Simplification, Nate Hagen interviews an extraordinary array of people from diverse fields each addressing the Metacrisis in their own way. Author and translator, David Hinten recalls past civilizations that were able to sustain and nurture the land they were on for thousands of years due to a profound understanding of their niche in the web of Life. And finally, Iain McGilchrist who explains how, in our 21^st century civilization, the more strategic goal-oriented left hemisphere of the brain has gained dominance over the right hemisphere that sees more holistically, and that intuits our interconnectedness with all Life. 

At this pivotal and critical moment in time the powerful forces driving expansion and war coupled with exponential technology and AI are a Cosmic Invitation – indeed a plea and a prayer – for us to find and savor our individual and collective ecological niche here on Earth where enough is truly and generously enough.