Thresholds, when crossed, herald change. Humanity has crossed many thresholds since prehistoric times, throughout cultural evolutions and technological leaps. Today, we recognize that we are approaching several thresholds which, given our mass and inertia, will undoubtedly be crossed with considerable consequences. The greatest environmental unknown is not so much the temperature that will be reached as our collective reaction.
Other thresholds are more difficult to perceive, but we also sense that we are approaching them, such as our ability to evolve in an increasingly technological society. Disruptive technologies are taking us beyond limits we could not even have imagined 10 years ago: artificial intelligence, ubiquitous networks, autonomous robots, genetic editing, nanomaterials, etc. herald a new era. We can't yet estimate what it will be like, but we do know that there's no going back. All we need are a few moral guidelines and human values to help us tame these new realities. Our "resistance to change" depends very much on whether or not we participate in the proposed solutions.
The threshold may be a consideration of what we believe to be possible or impossible, both physically and socially. Scientists, artists, philosophers and sportsmen and women in particular seek to go beyond limits and challenge the considerations we hold. The threshold often corresponds to the point of no return, transgression or risk-taking; when returning is riskier than continuing, when the seed has germinated, when a new ability is confirmed... When the first electric generator could be reproduced, that was it. When Mrs Benz drove her 100 km in a self-driving car, something had changed: it was possible.
Everyone crosses a number of thresholds on their way to adulthood, and they can never go back. Many thresholds have been decisive in our lives, and school has often been the stepping stone that enabled us to cross them. How many teachers are proud of the remarkable men and women their students have become! May we be just as proud of the next generation who will succeed in ensuring the balance of our societies. We're the ones who educate them, but are we doing it with the right elements?
Denys Lamontagne [email protected]
Illustration: yuran78 - DepositPhotos
