This is a butter knife. Had one of my ancestors of say 300 generations ago discovered or acquired this object, he or she might well have felt as though a god was their companion. With an object this unthinkably glorious, such a person would perhaps have imagined themselves the recipient of powers and blessings inconceivable to ordinary mortals. And, in so framing themselves, would have, perhaps, become much like their idea. For this single object, unknown in their time, would have at once great utility and terrible supernatural significance. My point, however, is that, merely by possessing something so impossible -for they themselves to produce or encounter- their attitude and impression of themselves would be transformed, and so, too their action. We have computers. You have on your desk an object that, when I was a child, was fiction from the distant future. It is -impossibly- sophisticated. Magical, actually. But we are not really improved overly much by them; in fact, we serve them in many ways, and take them for granted. Our relationships with them co-opt our health, memory, intelligence, environment and social infrastructures. Or what is left of them. I had a dream some time ago where one of my distant ancestors visited me. He approached my imac and I showed him all about facebook. He explained that, with something like this, in his time, he would have been able to accomplish unthinkable miracles of social and intellectual change, almost overnight, by connecting people who in his time had to struggle agonizingly to form any sort of intelligent collective. When I explained what we do with it he was astonished. He repeated what I had explained in his own words and when I verified it, he said this. Grandson, the people of your time are like hamsters masquerading as wolves and leopards and eagles. A single person from my time with a tool like this, even in -your- time, could transform your world and governments overnight. Or, they could destroy the bizarre monsters you have assembled as collectives so as to clear the terrain for something like human beings to have a chance to emerge. And frankly, given what I can understand of what you have shown me, I must fervently entreat you do both. You have one of these. One of these knives. One of these computers. A hand demon. One of these facebooks. And… most importantly… one of these ancestors. Never forget. And do not squander these impossible expedients to your humanity… and your excellence.

This is a butter knife. Had one of my ancestors of say 300 generations ago discovered or acquired this object, he or she might well have felt as though a god was their companion. With an object this unthinkably glorious, such a person would perhaps have imagined themselves the recipient of powers and blessings inconceivable to ordinary mortals. And, in so framing themselves, would have, perhaps, become much like their idea. For this single object, unknown in their time, would have at once great utility and terrible supernatural significance. My point, however, is that, merely by possessing something so impossible -for they themselves to produce or encounter- their attitude and impression of themselves would be transformed, and so, too their action.

We have computers. You have on your desk an object that, when I was a child, was fiction from the distant future. It is -impossibly- sophisticated. Magical, actually. But we are not really improved overly much by them; in fact, we serve them in many ways, and take them for granted. Our relationships with them co-opt our health, memory, intelligence, environment and social infrastructures. Or what is left of them.

I had a dream some time ago where one of my distant ancestors visited me. He approached my imac and I showed him all about facebook. He explained that, with something like this, in his time, he would have been able to accomplish unthinkable miracles of social and intellectual change, almost overnight, by connecting people who in his time had to struggle agonizingly to form any sort of intelligent collective.

When I explained what we do with it he was astonished. He repeated what I had explained in his own words and when I verified it, he said this.

Grandson, the people of your time are like hamsters masquerading as wolves and leopards and eagles. A single person from my time with a tool like this, even in -your- time, could transform your world and governments overnight. Or, they could destroy the bizarre monsters you have assembled as collectives so as to clear the terrain for something like human beings to have a chance to emerge. And frankly, given what I can understand of what you have shown me, I must fervently entreat you do both.

You have one of these. One of these knives. One of these computers. A hand demon. One of these facebooks. And… most importantly… one of these ancestors.

Never forget. And do not squander these impossible expedients to your humanity… and your excellence.