Over the weekend I acquired a new chair. Well not exactly new, it had been destined for the rubbish tip. I can now sit and knit and listen to Audible in comfort. It is a beautiful chair, recently upholstered and it would have been such a pity to just throw it away.
So I sat and listened to James Lovelock and 'Novacene', an imaginative and clever construct of what could happen in the future. Well us humans just might be on the scene, kept as pets though by the Cyborgs. Lovelock is a bit like H.G.Wells, imagining himself into the future but an entertaining read and I would not be surprised if AI just may take over, we will see.
The trouble with using Cyborgs of course is all the evil ones we have seen in television programmes, getting to actually like them is difficult. The idea reminds me of a film I once saw. The spaceship had become lost in space it had a garden on board, which was tended by two astronauts. They eventually die, and it is left to the two little robots to tend the garden, a rather sad ending to the film.
I have always liked the theory of Gaia, the Earth functioning as a whole body creating and healing its many wounds that we inflict. Today we are being brought to heel by the complicated mess we have created. In many ways it will be interesting to see if short term thinking based in greed will win the day, But Lovelock's optimistic story for the future, even though we become a second rank entity, tells us that the enormous sweep of our planet's history may swerve in a different direction than what we might think.
James Lovelock is a very interesting character on so many fronts. I first came across him some 50 years ago in analytical chemistry where we were using the super sensitive electron capture detector that he had invented.
ReplyDeleteHe has invented quite a lot. And his argument for nuclear energy does have some bearing in the fact that the wild life round Chernobyl flourished after the explosion. I like also the idea that it is the intuitive which is important and not the logical mind.
DeleteSending that to the TIP would be madness! Don't you have auctions up in Tod? Glad that you rescued it from destruction.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember that film you mentioned. James Lovelock is a new name to me but I am very unadventurous with my reading these days, apart from delving in to the real history behind my Family History, the occasional Archaeology Dig report and at the moment, Celtic Saints in Wales, and Mathilda de Braose.
Yes I think my daughter's friends were not particularly internet savvy considering the ways you can get rid of stuff on there. I went on Freegle for most of my stuff, and there was always someone ready to come and collect. My spinning wheel went to a sweet old man, then he passed it on to his nephew and came back for the dollshouse ;) And before you say anything Jennie I doubt he was a dealer ;)
ReplyDeleteAhem.. . look at our ages, and we STILL are!!! Dealers go on till they drop :) Aak yourself what he wanted with a dollshouse, and a nephew that spins? But that's just my sceptical nature. Used to know someone who ran the local Freegle in their town, and had to step down as everything was just going as far as them and then being sold on!
ReplyDeleteWell it is long gone now. Both of you are lucky, a) to live on the border of Wales in such a fabulous place, and b) to be able to wander round all these antique fairs. The only thing I don't envy is the loading of stuff back into the car.
DeleteWell done for rescuing the chair - much too smart to be chucked.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that all we see in Science Fiction will one day be Science Fact but I'll be long gone by then!
They also put up the curtains, well at least the curtain pole which was very kind of him and the number on the front door. No drill in this house!
DeleteSuch a pretty chair and it is great to have a footstool too! Good save!
ReplyDeleteI think it might be late Victorian, the back top is carved with flower motifs. Did look for a little mouse like you find in North Yorks carved by the 'Mouseman' but no luck.
ReplyDeleteThe film is Silent Running from 1972 - I remember it very well, remember crying at the end. Been a big fan of Lovelock's for years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that MrsL, I remember it being sad. Lovelock has reached a grand old age, he makes a good read.
DeleteGood grief - much too nice a chair to throw away - well rescued, I am sure you'll get years of use from it :)
ReplyDeleteI hope so, just found some money down the side ;)
DeleteFrankly Thelma, I am just glad I won't be here.
ReplyDeletePat the turn of history is a fascinating subject.
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