A Terrible Kind of Apathy


(Quoted from the blog of “I think, therefore I am crazy” on April 19, 2008)

When you are the first one who finds the New Continent, there will be so many people who show their cynicism. Their ignorance lies in the fact that they do not know how difficult it is to find the New Continent. Their numbness lies in that they turn a blind eye to it. People ignore things happening in front of their eyes. Of course, the numbness we mentioned means mental numbness in most cases.

When many writers (including scholars) write their works, they make painstaking efforts and exert all their strength and wisdom. The writers disclose abuses, lash staleness and state their penetrating insight. It takes great effort to finish a copy of works. However, when readers hold the writers'works and are obsessed with the words, I wonder if they think of the authors' entire energy and painstaking efforts outpoured within the words. In many readers' eyes, the social filthy phenomena described by these writers are merely mediocre. In this way, the readers ignore the authors' painstaking efforts. It is the same as the people who laughed at the first people who found the New Continent. When the authors wield the pen to write feverishly and criticize social abuses with tears and indignant words, they demonstrate their sufferings in their mind on the paper. Were it not for their minds galloping in the humanistic wilderness, the society would be in riots, which is hard to imagine. The writers are those who really find out human beings' inherent weaknesses. That is because they are initiators who attack human beings' inherent weakness. And many authors' glory lies in it.

An author named Hu Jiaqi has written a book called Saving Human Beings in the Extinction. The book has a very profound influence. Hu Jiaqi, as an ordinary citizen in Beijing, China, an ordinary graduate, a scholar and entrepreneur, has such a kind of great love to take on the responsibility of saving human beings. This great works costs him nearly 28 years and is full of his life's painstaking efforts. Before I read this book, I also strived for saving humanity in the way like him. Even now, I still write works for saving humanity.

In his article An Inevitable Breakthrough in Scientific Theory, Hu Jiaqi points out that “People become numb toward coming scientific and technological results…At the beginning of the 19th Century when photographic technology was invented, people had to sit down for several hours in the sun to take a picture. Even though it was this way, the people were willing to have a try. People felt surprised greatly when X-rays were just discovered, and it became a discussed topic in the street. Everyone wanted to have a look at his internal structure through the X-ray, whether he is a monarch or a noble. When electric light was still in its test phase, it surprised reporters remarkably. However, we find today that there is hardly invention or new scientific discovery to arouse human being’s surprise and sensation…” At last, the writer sums up that discovery numbness must lead to crisis numbness. When people accept all the scientific and technological results without thinking and take them for granted, they will represent numbness towards the negative effects of the scientific and technological results. Nevertheless, disasters always derive from numbness. The sea surface is often very peaceful without billows, but an undercurrent surges under the sea. When the whole society is numb, perhaps a devastating disaster will happen in the near future.

Many modern progressive technologies have negative effects. If human beings do not prevent their negative influences, technologies will bring devastating crisis to humans. That is to say, technology does not represent science. Only if human beings use technology scientifically, will they not be destroyed by it. It is an inevitable fact that human beings are transferred from "discovery numbness" to "crisis numbness”. But it is a shortcut for human beings' self-destruction. It is lucky for the human beings that Hu Jiaqi observes this point with intelligent eyes.

People can show numbness toward new discovery but not toward crisis. Although science and technology is the first productive force, it is also the first weapon for destroying human beings. Which apathy is more terrible, the apathy toward the negative effect of technology or the apathy toward natural disasters? Frankly speaking, the powerful point of apathy is that nobody cares about people's and human beings' existence or extinction.

Although people always highlight "safety first" when they carry out dangerous work, it is inevitable that sometimes they are careless and neglectful for taking precautions, causing people casualties."Disasters derive from numbness". Accidents happen every day, every month and every year in the world. And lots of the accidents are caused by people's carelessness and unconcern.

People do not take strict precautions against the negative function of technology. They do not prepare well any longer because of a fluke mindset. The fierce explosions of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki make people know what fear means. Environmental pollution also teaches a lesson to human beings and lets them know what pain means. Do human beings really take strict precautions only when they witness the devastating damage from the negative effects of science and technology? Do they prepare for devastating crisis only they have undergone the fear and pain? If so, it is inevitable for the self-extinction of human beings. It would be better to say that human beings are destroyed by themselves rather than destroyed by technology. It is human beings that invent technology and also manipulate technology. It is just because of human beings’ irrational actions that cause human beings to be ravaged by science and technology. If human beings do not achieve any breakthrough in overcoming their weaknesses, then saving human beings is in vain. And finally, human beings will be destroyed by their weaknesses. Therefore, the breakthrough in overcoming their weaknesses must be done earlier than that of technology. Currently, there are so many means to move human beings toward extinction."With the circular breakthrough of science, there are more and more technological results, which mean there are more and more devastating means and people who master fatal means in the world.” Nobody knows if people could develop hundreds of weapons that urge human beings to be destroyed within a few hundred years. In this way, it would easily cause inundant and rampant situation of such kinds of weapons. Do not take it for granted that human beings have achieved greater progress of breakthrough in overcoming their weaknesses within a few hundred years, and it could decrease the risk of human beings' extinction. But it cannot decrease the risk of human beings' extinction if there are more destructive means and more people who master destructive means. Therefore, human beings must restrict the research on the destructive means or establish stricter measures and systems. Besides, human beings achieve the breakthrough in overcoming their weaknesses.

Nowadays, mankind is standing on the verge of self-extinction. Seriously speaking, the fact is that human beings are in the journey of self-extinction concerning the gradual increase of destructive means.

I'd like to remind that if there is no intervention or sanction from a national government, a lunatic could destroy the whole world and, even worse, the person may make human beings move toward extinction casually. It is not only the business of a nation that concerns the matter of existence or extinction of all mankind, but also the business of all human beings. After all, national government is not an all-powerful organization.

To a certain extent, the hostility and apathy between countries are the activators for human beings' self-extinction. Therefore, the countries should maintain the virtue of mutual support, assistance and consideration. It is the compulsory request of the times and human beings' existence. That is because the undercurrent is surging under the sea now. It is just a question of time and chance for the coming of billows. When there is an epochal breakthrough in technology, the hostility and apathy between countries still exist. It will aggravate human beings' self-extinction. Although countries can rely on force advantage balances to avoid the outbreak of wars between them, do not forget that the hostility between countries does not only mean the hostility between them but also means the hostility between their people. Even if the national government does not use destructive weapons first, it cannot assure a lunatic from one nation will not use the weapons. Here I use an example quoted by Hu Jiaqi: “It is reported that America separates the DNA of a kind of virus by making use of genetic technology and combines it with another kind of DNA. Finally, they get a kind of virulent biological agent called a “pyrotoxin”. Someone discloses in private that 20 grams of such a kind of biological agent could result in the global death of 6 billion people due to infection.” The author also points out that “Seen from the current situation, the original intention of genetic technology invention is used to benefit human beings, and many biologists can master this technology. However, it is actually so easy to apply the technology to carnage tools with strong destruction. A biologist could obtain biological toxin easily without much equipment or material. With the development of scientific technology, there will be more and more destructive means which are mastered by ordinary people…” “It does not mean speaking of idiotic nonsense that only 20 grams of gene biological toxin is sufficient to cause the extinction of all human beings. The extinction of human beings is just in one moment.”

Human beings should have sufficiently sober recognition over crisis. No matter whether the crisis is major or minor, do not be numb to the crisis as long as the crisis relates to the existence and death of every person and the peace and prosperity of the entire world.