Global Dialogues

One of the greatest follies of humans in the 21st century is believing that technological advancement and increased nationalism will improve our quality of life. Instead of focusing on our frailty and morality, we search for shortcut after shortcut to simplify our already mundane lives. Technological utopias do not present solutions to our problems, because we are not immortal. Acknowledging the frailty and precarity of our existence inspires us to work for a reality that is fulfilling rather than advancing.

This technological utopia is a vision built to indulge our laziness. We don’t want to speak with loved ones, we want them to see our curated photos of what they’re not a part of. We don’t want to meet our colleagues in person, we want to be half present on Zoom in our pajamas. We don’t want to take care of our bodies, we pay for medicines to the point where in old age, our lives rest on three pill bottles. We don’t want to think through questions, we want ChatGPT to spit out the responses for us. I don’t use any artificial intelligence for this reason. I struggle engaging with questions I don’t know how to answer. I go through my readings multiple times. I write down every thought that comes to mind. But my product, though never as perfect as what ChatGPT could produce, is at least mine.

As a Muslim, I believe any strife is an act of worship. There is something so human about internal conflict. It’s the spark that drives us forward. A technological utopia would strip us of that spark for the sake of being comfortable. But the human experience is meant to be uncomfortable. We are meant to gain and lose, fluctuating around an equilibrium of earthly strife. Exploiting the Earth to force ourselves forward is an act against this natural equilibrium.

Our current trajectory of advancement is also unsustainable. We treat our lives and our world as if we are immortal. We refuse to acknowledge the truth—this reality, both our individual reality and the world overall, will all come to an end. Once we recognize our frailty, our drive to the Promethean passions will seem worthless. St. Augustine would recognize our problems as the misdirection of a godless society. Nietzsche called postmodern society the “death of God”. Without a central force holding us accountable to a world outside our current, we seek to create a superior world in our existing one. But the finiteness of Earth will prevent us from realizing this utopia. And until we recognize this finiteness, we will not stop exploiting and forcing advancement.

Raha Murtuza (SFS'28) is a sophomore in the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.