Lately I’ve been asking my wife for ideas of what to write about for a post. It does seem to get harder to spot what could be talked about as time goes by. She suggested writing about how the human race is so lonely. I didn’t know what she meant at first so I asked how that could be true. She said that as humans we are always humanizing things around us whether it be alive or not. This ranges from simple actions like giving non-living things names (like cars) to trying to figure out what a pet dog might be thinking or wishing it could say.
She got me there since I realized I sometimes explain things to her as if dogs were like people when they really aren’t.
The thinking is something like this: As far as we know, we are the only living species to have made it this far in the entire universe. Much like any other single entity or organization, we do not want to be alone in this massively huge space. So, instead of accepting our fate as the solitary members of the solar system (and so forth), we decide to pretend that non-human things actually have human characteristics. We talk to birds. We treat pets as family members. We yell at our cars. We convince ourselves that animals can understand our words. We search the night skies for signs of life.
Most of you have probably see the movie “Contact” which was made from Carl Sagan’s book of the same name. The story captures the essence of the human desire to reach an alien civilization. In another way, it exposes our fears of being exposed to alien ways. This is already true within cultures on earth. Obviously this would be amplified based on the huge differences in cultures from space.
Yet, we still desire to know that we are not alone. To me, it is amazing that 6 billion people is still not enough to be considered “not lonely” but the real point must not be based on individual people but rather on humans as a collective species. I guess it is kind of like climbing a mountain by yourself and not having someone to share it with.
Personally, I suspect that we are not alone. I would also suggest that we are known about. The simple reason why we do not know about them is that we are meant to be left alone. It’s that old “Prime Directive” idea from Star Trek at work. Do not interfere with the developing worlds and only become involved when they are stable enough and advanced enough to participate in interstellar trade.
Obviously it’s just a theory. To me, it makes a lot of sense given the nature of the universe. The bottom line is to respect autonomy with the eventual hopes of integration. There is nothing worse than losing a planet to the rages of war but this is much better than losing a solar system or galaxy to the bends of emotional violence.
So how does this relate to Citrix? Well, you knew I had to have some kind of tie in, right? Well, this too should be fairly obvious based on the theme. We are constantly searching…. searching for more…. searching for answers… searching for contact… peace…. compassion… money…. well, you get the idea. Citrix software allows you not only to connect to far away places and exchange information but it also allows you to run your work or business from just about anywhere (at least anywhere that has digital carrier signal). This gives people the freedom to roam with the security to continue their searches. Once the information has been gathered, it can be processed and then transmitted back to the backbone of the company via Citrix technologies. In a way, we enable some of the most advanced transactions with the least amount of effort.
I think that we help people fill a part of the void by allowing them to do things that would previously be impossible. At the very least, Citrix is helping to reduce the feeling of being disconnected and alone in the big environment of Earth.
Yes, yes, yes, it is a bit philosophical and also a bit exaggerated. However, I believe that consumption happens in part due to this loneliness we feel that is due to a mixture of individual and collective species. If we were satisfied with who we are and happy with what we’ve got, it would be highly unlikely that we would need as much as we do.
Is there a point to this post really? No.
But, it is interesting to think about root causes and where we are right now. Perhaps someday we will come to the realization that will help us to never feel alone again.
Live near Brisbane, Australia. Software developer currently focused on iOS and Android. Avid Google Local Guide
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