Everything That Rises Must Converge
All of humankind’s missteps are rising toward the sixth mass extinction event.
I’m taking great liberties with Flannery O’Connor’s writing. You’d think that rising things would separate, not converge. But I find a strange convergence of opinion that the human race is hurtling toward mass extinction and that it’s happening right now, right in our faces.
And who has noticed this convergence? Well, the MIT people for starters, in 1972. It’s important to note that back then we wrote our own code. There was no ready-made software. It requires smarts to know which variables to use and how to format the output. But this sort of programming got us to the Moon and predicted the future of humankind (which has since arrived).
Here’s a perfectly fine article, and it carries links to more recent studies which continue to back this very bad, dystopian news (sorry):
To save you the trouble, here’s the next, more modern part of this story:
Yes, Gaya Herrington. Don’t forget that name. Click on her name to see the SVG image — which are nearly impossible to display on Medium.
As for the novelists . . .
Now I’m referring to the smart novelists. Not sophomoric sorts of writers or writers like James Patterson — who writes for money and power and who isn’t terribly introspective.
But if you read novels by the likes of Stephen King and even like Clive Cussler, you’re gonna read about the future that has so suddenly arrived.
It’s downright spooky how many authors saw this dystopian future coming.
I won’t nurse you through this part. You either read novels or you don’t. If you read them, and maybe take another look at your favorites, you might well find stories that predicted in advance what we’re seeing today.
Well, I‘ve got to say that the convergence of so many authors who “predicted” our dystopian present is pretty damn spooky. Scroll to the end and look at the eight links I’ve found for you to read.
Just for your information: “dystopian” is mostly defined as “anti-utopian.” Just look at the picture below and imagine fleeing the city.
I have been reading novels online lately. These writers make it seem so easy. I do know that my writing smooths out a lot after a period of novel reading.
I am amazed at how these authors manage to nail our “right now.” As we cross into 2022 we’re immediately facing the reality that Homo sapiens’ time on Earth might last a few years or a decade, but not beyond about 16 years. It’s strange and fascinating that so many disparate novelists have reached this common conclusion. Convergence.
One of my favorite authors is Philip K. Dick (PKD). He was a trip! I guess he means a lot to me because his stories resonate. I was 16 when Woodstock happened in 1969 — peace, love, rock and roll, and drugs. PKD also seemed to like drugs, and as a writer… he was truly unique.
Well, happy reading — my gift to you:
Everything that rises must converge. Jeez, Flannery O’Connor. How’d you figure? Because you’ve nailed it.
For me it’s interesting to have lived through the weirdness of the cold war and now the weirdness of social and economic breakdown. There are waay too many people infesting Earth right now — for the time being.
… Fred Ermlich. Thanks for reading.
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