JULY/AUGUST 2021
MAYAN* TROUBLE? *read "am I in"
Is this The End? by Priyanka Mukherjee
As the dust begins to settle, it strikes the mind how much of the present had been anticipated, but no one was genuinely prepared for it. The climate had gotten worse with time. Even with people working towards its benefit, it was still just a handful. Not nearly enough to repair centuries worth of over use of resources. For the earth to ‘retaliate’ against all the wrongs done against her was only natural. Like the increasingly frequent floods Bombay suffered, all through the areas that humans had ‘reclaimed’, its just a way that the nature rebels against all the abuse. We encroached what was not ours, and it was eventually taken away. Mayan beliefs had predicted on multiple occasions, foreseeing the end of the world. From the rumours of 2012 to the horrors of 2020, Doomsday was announced, and it came and went. It became a topic of debate, but people still refused to act upon the ‘what if’ of the situation – what if it actually came true? The years went by, the Pandemic wiped out a large chunk of the population. With its horrible track record of predicting the future, the ancient culture of the Mayans started losing credibility.
https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-A-I-Thought-What-will-be-the-future-ofthe-Earth-and-my-Creator/1129637/7597779/view https://www.mobileappdaily.com/ai-put-a-limit-on-human-creativity https://medium.com/deskree-studio/is-ai-the-future-of-hollywood-9ff5011c4be1 https://www.designdaily.net/insights/7-ways-artificial-intelligence-is-revolutionizingarchitecture/ https://wisdomplexus.com/blogs/role-ia-information-architecture-aiartificialintelligence/
That’s why, when things slowly became worse – floods were more frequent, earthquakes were regular and the heat waves worsened – it was not given the importance it deserved. The rain that year had been delayed; the heat was excruciating. The colder parts of the world had experienced summer for the first time in years. Paleo-climatologists and meteorologists had measured some prominent spikes, but again, The End had not been considered as the eventual possibility. Then, the rain began. Initially welcomed as a relief, people soon realised that the downpour worsened by the hour. The skies turned a dark shade of purple, and streets were flooded within hours. Seas and oceans in turn became increasingly violent. Within days, the temperatures had dropped below zero. Places that had never experienced a distinguished winter, now had experienced hail storms and terrible winds. It took the international organizations eleven days to announce a crisis – the climate, was failing. Coasts were flooded and most areas had been suffering calamities like cloud bursts. But it had been too late for most. Cities had been wiped clean. The first rays of sun came thirty-four days after the storms had begun. The survivors, thoroughly shaken to their core, stepped out of whatever shelters they had taken. The winds had slowed to a light breeze, and the dust was settling down. Although still flooded, with the less violent winds and waves, things seemed to be calmimg down. In the utter chaos, very few things had made it through. AI based living had created a digital foundation for life, where everything prevailed only through artificial norms. With the flooding and disruption, most of the intelligence had failed within days. After centuries of purely technologically assisted living, the human element had almost been wiped away.
AI based living had created a digital base for life, where everything prevailed only through artificial norms. After centuries of purely technologically assisted living, the human element had almost been wiped away.
Until now. With insufficient resources, the chances of scarcity on all fronts of life was looming ahead. Riots, anarchy, hoarding of resources, were all a possibility. -x-x-xIt has been a few years since the apocalypse. All that happened now seems like a distant dream. Rather, a very vivid nightmare. For us to even fathom such an event had been nearly impossible, but none the less, we survived. I find that the Apocalypse did change people. It changed all of us. We understood the exact depth of the damage we, and our predecessors had imposed on our land. The first few months after The Storm had been rough. Torturous, even. But people soon learned how to co-exist, and I pray everyday that we continue doing so. We have made such progress in the past year itself. Maybe we won't have to abandon our planet. Maybe, we will still be able to fight for our Home.
Priyanka Mukherjee priyanka.mukherjee604@gmail.com thebratjournal.wordpress.com @priiyankaaaa