I have been thinking this Earth Day about modern technology and our environment and how much they are out of touch with each other. Last summer, my wife and I traveled to Fairbanks, Alaska, for a wedding. While there, we went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. It was an amazing experience. Although I had been familiar with traditional Native hunting, fishing, travelling, and living techniques for decades, what really hit home for me was just how in tune Native technology was with their environment.

Yes, there was often starvation and horrible deaths, but the technology they developed was 100% based on what they had to work with — and they respected their animals, their waters, their land. A salmon-skin rain parka at the museum was one of the ultimate ways that they did this.

Our technology today so often works against the very environment that we depend on for life. Take the incredible amount of energy that is required to run massive data centers for artificial intelligence. Does it really make sense? AI cannot create new land, new water, new air. Is supposedly making our lives “better” really worth it? I have my doubts.

Let’s always remember that life is dependent on what the earth gives us.

Ed Blechner

Addison