On Jan 16, 2010, at 11:29 AM, Dwayne Monroe wrote:
> John Adams posted a positive review of Avatar which tackles the 'It's
> Dances With Wolves in Space' complaint:
>
> Here, the writer inadvertently reveals his argument's weakness.
>
>
> Cameron's Na'vi have no need of human tech because Pandora's
> eco-system magically provides many of the capabilities and life
> supportive services of a techno-sphere.
However, as I pointed out a few days ago, "A planet in which all life is neurologically interlinked is not, cannot be, a “natural” (in the trivial ordinary sense) environment. It could only come to be as the expression of the most advanced, though “soft,” technology, the historical result of planned bioengineering on a totally comprehensive scale. Necessarily, this “soft” choice would sacrifice the possibility of extra-planetary exploration, posing obvious problems in the event of visitation from the forces of a “hard” imperialist technology..."
It appears that many of us still have an M/M approach to technology-- either its Mechanical or its "Magical"--and are blind to the implications (perhaps because of a hysterical reaction to the word "eugenic") for the future evolution of *our* planetary ecosystem over many millennia, of the stunningly rapid emergence of biotechnology right here and right now.
Shane Mage
> This cosmos did none of gods or men make, but it
> always was and is and shall be: an everlasting fire,
> kindling in measures and going out in measures."
>
> Herakleitos of Ephesos