Don Detrich Biography

Optimistic 

So, are we going to make it? It’s certainly a valid question. Yes, we are the dominant species, swarming across the planet in every conceivable niche. Until the mid-20th century, our cultural mishaps were mostly self-contained. Nature, bruised but resilient, kept trudging along. Now, with thousands of nuclear warheads and our relentless environmental degradation, our petty, short-sighted squabbles pose an existential threat to countless species, ourselves included. 

Our prospects for improved governance and mutual understanding seem bleak. The election of Donald Trump is a glaring testament to our failures. The United States, often hailed (if somewhat overrated) as the epitome of democracy and capitalism, has plummeted to such depths of division and dysfunction that it could actually reelect a disgrace like Trump. This is a profoundly alarming indicator of our collective decline.

You might accuse me of misanthropy, of hating people. But I don't hate people; it's humanity I can’t stand. Most people, left unthreatened and unstressed, are fundamentally decent—amusing, accommodating, just trying to muddle through. Yet, in the grand urban sprawl of civilization, we're like monkeys behind the wheels of cars: grasping at the basics but inevitably careening towards disaster. It's not malevolence but an inherent lack of aptitude for navigating the complexities of the modern world that ensnares us. Our genetic and social blueprints, honed over millennia, are woefully mismatched with the chaotic intricacies we've constructed.

If humanity is to endure, we'll need the broader perspective of Artificial Intelligence. Maybe this sounds like naive utopianism. No, AI isn't some new deity. But I’m placing my bet on it or some other technological leap—perhaps an endless supply of clean energy—to haul us back from the precipice. It’s a desperate gamble, but it’s one I cling to with tenacity. Can technology and AI alter our fundamental nature? No, we'll likely continue to squabble and bicker in our distinctly human fashion, as we always have. Yet, technology could address our larger dilemmas and provide a rational framework robust enough to counterbalance our worst tendencies.

I may sound like an old man (and at 73, I am) lamenting the good old days and certain that the world is “going to hell in a handbasket”. Yet, given the choice to be reborn in any era, (with the condition that is reasonably stable and middle-class), I'd choose today. Despite the likes of Putin, Xi, and the MAGA crowd, I revel in the easy access to science, history, and boundless art and information. The Internet is a marvel. More than anything, I want to see what happens next. I embrace that ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.”

“With unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her hiding-places,” wrote Victor Frankenstein. And here we stand, on the precipice of our own monstrous creation.