Under the Watchful Gaze of the Earthnet of Things

Necrocapitalism may have reached sentience, but there is another sentient system on this planet that is much, much older.  In fact, it is ancient.  It is billions of years old.  The rocks that fall off a cliff, the sea kelp that grows in the ocean, the light of the sun sweeping over land in the morning as it sneaks in between passing clouds, are all part of this sentient system.  They all talk to each other in ways that are more clear, more honest, more direct and more unambiguous than any human language. They are all part of one, massive, complex supercomputer which connects the weather system, ecosystem, and all geological and physical processes that take place on this planet.  They are part of the Earthnet of Things.

I have previously referenced the EoT both in my book The Unhappiness Machine and the novella A New Earth, but have never fully explained to my readers what it is, partly because I struggled to put it into words.  It would be like explaining the Universe: one can only be in awe of such a vast, beautiful being.

The Earthnet of Things is not just the planet’s operating system.  It is not a machine or algorithm.  It is an actual brain that thinks, and even feels.  It responds to stimuli and disturbances, as messages constantly flow between its trillions of components.  It is an orchestra that is able to adjust the beat of its song or correct it, and bring it back into line if one of the leading instruments goes off-note.  It can retune itself if it has to, in any which way out of billions of possible configurations.  The EoT is truly intelligent, and self-aware.

Sometimes it may take many years to close a communication loop, but messages within the EoT are never lost.  Nothing goes unnoticed, simply because everything within the EoT is under surveillance, while at the same time having the important role of surveilling everything else.  Such is the level of interconnectedness.  The EoT represents all the chemical elements, physical components, energies and capabilities within Earth.  It can sense both big and small disturbances.  It knows when one of its 8 million species has gone missing.  Earth itself is a superorganism, exhibiting the same psychosomatic responses all organisms exhibit. What climate scientists describe as unexplainable, off-the-chart climate data, is nothing but the result of the planet’s accumulated trauma finally manifesting itself.

As a matter of fact the EoT represents the whole of Earth and everything that is in it and on it: there isn’t one single object, organism or other entity, not even a light evening air breeze that isn’t part of the Earthnet of Things.  The EoT is everything, and everything is the EoT.  Everyone in it has a part to play, however big or small.

Most importantly, the various components of the EoT do not simply talk to each other.  They report into each other, whether they like to or not.  Even Humanity, and Necrocapitalism are components of the EoT, albeit unwilling ones.  Their deeds have severe impacts on the planet which have already warranted a response, as the orchestra searches for a new song which will fit its current mood.  Humanity, and the Thing it has created, have hijacked this symphony.  But they won’t be orchestra conductors for very long.  As more and more instruments go extinct, the cacophony of sound will kill the conductor.  A new song will rise out of the ashes one day, as the EoT reconstitutes itself.

Earth now needs to protect the malnourished children she has left, from the one child hoarding resources and killing all the others. The EoT is mobilizing, the furniture of the planet’s weather rearranged. Humans already do not belong in this overheating house

George is an author, researcher, chemist, molecular biologist and food scientist. You can follow him on Twitter @99blackbaloons or enjoy his books