Life without you

(Inspired by Yuval Harari’s book Homo Deus)

Your existence seems necessary

As without you, life would become meaningless

Yet nobody likes you and few are willing to meet you

Putting an end to your existence has even become one of the top three items on the new human agenda: Immortality they call it

Life is sacred they say, and humans take their right to life very seriously

And you my friend, you are clearly violating this right

For years, humankind had no control over you and just needed to tolerate you

‘It was God‘s will’ they would say, to control their anger and grief, every time you would take a loved one away

But now that its power and intelligence is surpassing you

It is time to start a war against you

Yet I wonder, are you ‘a technical problem that needs to be solved’ or a blessing?

What would happen if you are no longer here?

I wonder if without you

The notion of time would cease to exist and humans would finally stop rushing

I wonder if without you

Birthdays will still take place and life would be celebrated

I wonder if without you

we would care more about the future and our actions

or would we be too busy reinventing ourselves again and again?

I wonder if without you, the world would become a better or a worse place

I wonder…

27 November 2021, Amsterdam