With depressing regularity, we hear of and see tragic natural disasters. We can do more than pray and wring our hands. There is no failsafe way to guarantee we will not fall to some disaster. But there is a clear way to start avoiding predictable catastrophes.
That is the way which helps buttress the many arguments for considering cybercommunities as our future. The colombia flood disaster noted below has been and will be repeated until we see that we can control where and how we live in the future.
Build to withstand
The first law of safety for cybercommunites is to Build to withstand extreme weather events.
This involves creating a resilient matrix within which the residents live and work and recreate. It has elements of walled cities of yore and of technology applied in ways we have not yet created or even dreamed of. But we can build communities that will withstand the worst that can be thrown at them.
Build to avoid
The second law of safety is simply stated: Build to avoid predictable disasters. This might include areas subject to tsunamis or high seas of any sort. It would certainly include cyclone corridors and it would take the possibility of tornadoes into consideration. Again there is no failsafe way to be secure and security is not god. But repeated rebuilding when you know what the future will bring is a practice with diminishing returns.
More than 150 dead as overflowing rivers rip through city https://t.co/z9Yg5AizTl
— Stephen C. Rose (@stephencrose) April 2, 2017
Safety first
Safety should be first except when an individual needs to stand up for what is right. Then the heart of heroism is to nonviolently face those who do harm and say no. Cybercommunities are part of an integral and holistic idea for expression and action as the world evolves swiftly toward a modest but crucial ethical leap.
It consists of taking seriously the first two sentences of this paragraph.
Assuming the suffering to avoid it in the future
A nonviolent global revolution is in progress because we cannot survive without it. This consists of people standing up and nonviolently saying no to what hurts and harms. This is the heart of ethics, ignored by the experts but known to all people.
