In the modern world, should humanity actively seek to protect the environment and use alternative energy sources for sustainable development?

Based on the question posed by the movie “The Matrix,” “Is humanity a detriment to the planet?”, we discuss the need for humanity to protect the environment and use alternative energy for sustainable development in the modern world. This is not just a philosophical question, but is emphasized as an essential task for human survival.

 

The Matrix (1999) is a movie about a dystopian future where humans live in a virtual reality program called the Matrix and are bred as livestock to provide energy for machines. The movie’s premise is this. Humans have created machines with artificial intelligence and are living a life of dependence on them, but for some reason, humans start a war with the machines. During the war, humans realize that it is difficult to deal with the machines, and in a last-ditch effort to defeat them, they burn the sky to block the sun, which is the source of energy for the machines, targeting the fact that the machines use the sun as a source of energy. The machines, left without a source of energy, search for an alternative power source to the sun and find human bioenergy as a new source of energy. In this future, Neo, the movie’s protagonist, is chosen as a savior to fight the machines so that humans can enjoy a human life again.
In the movie, the Matrix is not just a virtual reality, but a tool for controlling human consciousness and maintaining a world dominated by machines. This parallels many of the means of control we encounter in real life. For example, in the modern world, the media and the internet dominate people’s perceptions and behaviors to a certain extent, and as a result, society moves in a certain direction. In this sense, The Matrix is not just a science fiction movie, but a warning about modern society.
The Matrix presents a number of philosophical and scientific themes, including virtual reality, artificial intelligence, determinism, Buddhist philosophy, and the question “Are humans beneficial to the planet?”. Agent Smith, the AI program in the movie, has this to say about humans “Humans, unlike other mammals, do not live in harmony with their environment. We use up the resources around us, and when there are no more resources to use, we move on. There is one more type of organism that does this, and it’s a virus. Humanity is the virus of the planet, and we are its vaccine.” It’s a chilling thought from a human perspective, but it’s also one that’s hard to deny. But are humans as harmful to the planet as Agent Smith suggests?
First, there is an argument to be made that the way we live is fine and justified. The natural behavior of all animals, including humans, is to strive for the benefit of their own species, so it’s natural for humans to develop civilizations to pursue their own interests, and environmental protection should only be considered when it doesn’t interfere with the development of human civilization. In order for this argument to be convincing, it must be assumed that human civilization is unconditionally beneficial to humanity if it ignores its surroundings. A little thought shows that this premise is not possible. For this premise to be possible, humanity would have to exist completely independent of its surroundings. However, in reality, humans do not exist in isolation from their environment and are in constant interaction with it. In fact, humanity is being harmed by global warming, ozone depletion, and extreme weather events caused by environmental pollution.
Therefore, assuming that the proposition that humans should protect the environment is true, the current form of human consumption of the planet’s resources is undesirable. Human history is 5,000 years old, but since the Industrial Revolution, human civilization has developed rapidly. And as civilization has grown, the amount of energy we use has grown along with it. To date, the energy we rely on the most is fossil energy, such as oil. Fossil energy is energy that comes from the remains of animals and plants that have been fossilized over hundreds of millions of years since they were buried in the earth’s crust. Fossil energy is not an energy source that can be used indefinitely because it has limited reserves, and it also has environmental pollution problems such as increasing the average temperature of the earth and rising sea levels due to the increase in greenhouse gases produced by using fossil energy.
After fossil energy, the second most used energy source by humans is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is obtained by nuclear fission, which is the splitting of heavy atomic nuclei such as uranium or plutonium. Nuclear energy has the advantage of being much more energy efficient than fossil energy, as the mass loss from nuclear fission is directly converted into energy according to the E=mc² formula of relativity. In addition, unlike fossil energy, nuclear energy does not have the problem of greenhouse gases and air pollution, and it has the environmental advantage of generating energy rather than consuming energy stored in the earth. However, nuclear energy also produces radioactive waste. While radioactive waste is contained and managed, it can cause major problems if it is released. Examples like Chernobyl and Fukushima show that relying solely on nuclear energy for energy supply is problematic in the long run.
In addition to nuclear energy, there are many other alternative energy sources that are being actively researched. For example, humanity has recently become increasingly interested in nuclear fusion energy. Nuclear fusion is a reaction that takes place in the sun, where hydrogen nuclei combine to form helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy. The process produces very little radioactive waste, and the hydrogen used as a fuel can be obtained from seawater, so there are no resource limitations. However, there are still many technical difficulties in making this technology practical, so it is not yet commercialized.
Therefore, alternative energy sources are urgently needed for sustainable development. One of the most talked about alternative energy sources is renewable energy. Renewable energy is a combination of renewable and new energy. Renewable energy consists of photovoltaic, solar, wind, hydroelectric, marine, bioenergy, geothermal, and waste energy. As the name implies, renewable energy is a near-infinite supply of energy, and unlike fossil or nuclear energy, it has the advantage of being much less polluting. However, the problem with renewable energy is that even when combined, it’s not enough to cover the amount of energy we currently use.
New energy sources include hydrogen, fuel cells, and coal-to-liquids, with hydrogen being considered the ultimate energy source for humanity. Hydrogen energy has the advantage of no pollution because the substance produced after combustion is water, and there is plenty of water as a raw material. However, it is limited by the fact that there is no way to generate hydrogen cheaply and in large quantities from water.
Solar power is also becoming more efficient due to recent technological advances. The downside is that it’s expensive to install upfront, but the upside is that it requires little maintenance and can provide reliable energy for many years. There is even talk of building large-scale solar farms to power the world, especially in areas with abundant sunlight such as deserts. Wind energy is also gaining traction because it can be installed in areas with high wind speeds, such as coastal areas and high altitudes, to generate steady power.
Humanity has built a brilliant civilization, but it’s all been built on the foundation of the Earth. Since the earth is the environment in which humans live, the problems of the earth are directly related to the problems of humans. If humans destroy the environment, the damage will inevitably come back to them. In this sense, it is essential for humanity to protect the environment and find sustainable energy sources in order to survive.
In conclusion, we need to think deeply about whether humanity is a detriment to the planet, just like the question posed in the movie ‘ The Matrix. We need to find ways to minimize the impact of our civilization’s development on the planet’s environment and find sustainable energy sources so that we can coexist with the planet. This is not just a philosophical question, but a practical issue for the survival of humanity, and we must recognize and actively respond to it.
Therefore, human sustainability is not just about technological progress, but also about ethical and social responsibility. It is important that we continue our efforts to protect the environment, use resources efficiently, and leave a healthy planet for the next generation. Only when these efforts bear fruit will humanity be able to truly fulfill its role as a member of the planet.