The Mountain in the Sea

by Ray Nayler

“You don’t like them, do you?” said Ha. “No. I find them eerie. Repulsive. I suppose it is the same for you when you look at a monkey. Unsettling.” “I don’t find monkeys unsettling. I don’t think people generally do.” “No? I would have thought you would find them disturbing. So much like you, but in a degraded state. A failed attempt.”

Monkeys are gross, I agree

“The great and terrible thing about humankind is simply this: we will always do what we are capable of.”

How we see the world matters—but knowing how the world sees us also matters.

I believe the first aliens we encounter will rise to greet us from the sea.

We argue more and more about consciousness as AI develops and brains come online that can accomplish many of the tasks of a human brain. But still, we have no clear definition of consciousness—even though it must be the most important element of our own experience on the planet. Why do we fear so much in the other this thing we so little understand in ourselves?

This is why it can be so difficult to overcome trauma: Memories are inscribed in us. They are etched into our physical being.

A philosopher of the twentieth century, Paul Virilio, said: ‘When you invent the ship, you also invent the shipwreck; when you invent the plane you also invent the plane crash; and when you invent electricity, you invent electrocution. Every technology carries its own negativity, which is invented at the same time as technical progress.’ I think often of that quote. Is it not so? Each new technology carries unexpected consequences.

Their inaction, when it really counted, was also a kind of action. It was a choice they made.”