The Alchemist

Years ago, in an introductory study of religion class our teacher had presented an image to the class.

The image above was painted by the 19th century artist Caspar David Friedrich and was entitled Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.

While the image is often associated with German Romanticism there was a different interpretation of the image: the societal shock after the Second World War with the interpretation itself being akin to this:

-------------------------------------------------
We thought that scientific and technological progress alone would bring about a utopia, but instead the pinnacle of our achievements led to continent-scale warfare, genocide orders of magnitude greater in scope and totality than any previous age and the specter of nuclear war. In the painting the hiker has scaled a mountain... but there's nothing there. And now civilization has scaled incredible peaks in scientific understanding and technological ability but have found its reality falling far short of its promise.

So... now what?
------------------------------------------------

Of note: the interpretation above can be only very slightly re-worded and describe the current state of civilization as well.

We've wired up the world, connected everyone to everyone, have both made and are making great strides in the fields of computers, biological sciences (both pure and applied) and global connectivity. We thought (some still think) that science and technology alone can save us from all of our problems. But the promised utopia of a smarter, better educated and less militaristic humanity never arrived. We forgot the human element when chasing fantasies of a perfect future and now we find ourselves facing a resurgence of militant nationalism, ignorance, distrust and hatred.

So... now what?

I belive this passage from Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson might hold part of an answer:

"Very good Nirgal. Your sight has such insight. In archetypal terminologies we might call green and white the Mystic and the Scientist. Both extremely powerful figures, as you see. But what we need, if you ask me, is a combination of the two, which we call the Alchemist."

While I'm not sure mysticism is what should be aimed for, there is another ideal we could embrace, and indeed I have already alluded to it in this post: the human element.

I'm not trying to make an appeal to nature but instead the understanding that the human element is just as important in factoring into the trajectory of our collective future than technology on its own.

Why not see the good in humanity, cherish the goodness and nurture it wherever we go? Should we not all strive to be the Alchemist?