.
.
Impressions. Resiliency. I can’t focus.
Canaries in coalmines
Break-away bridge poles
Curb feelers
Falling dishes
We make delicate things. Fighter planes, soda bottles, and PhD’s are made by systems held in delicate balance. Many of our systems have lost their brakes: the negative feedback that tells them to adjust their behavior prior to collapse. Yeast populations bell-curve as sugar is consumed in a confined environment. Human systems greedily expand using sugar borrowed from the future next door. Much exists on a bubble waiting to burst.
Delicate things breaking can be disastrous. And.
Delicate things breaking can be an early warning signal to help prevent disaster, “Here comes the wave, get ready to stretch and hold your breath.” Such delicacy is peripheral to the core function of the system, as a warning buoy in the ocean.
Terrified of the breakage, I can barely catch my breath, let alone hold it for the coming impact.
Sinking economies, ephemeral recoveries. Borrowing time.
So much momentum. So much distraction.
Nothing in the bank, no water in the bathtub, buffers spent.
No places, no purposes, no selves.
No tomorrow.
All the buoys are clanging, the fore-slaps of the wave are landing, and life goes on. Have you heard breaking delicacy? Are you deaf?
No, I’m not. Efficiency, that’s what we’re after; remember? The least resources to get the job done. Time, money, people, steel, glass, food. Elasticity is inefficient. I hear things breaking but I will not invest in a future that may not occur.
I don’t know what to do.
I’m building a boat and I’m wondering.
How big should it be?
I’m tired of asking.
How can I plug all its holes?
I can’t know everything.
Can it drift?
I need power to steer.
Nobody knows.
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