Autonomous Technospheres

We are currently at a profound moment in Earth's timeline.

For eons, the heart of our planet, the biosphere, has rhythmically formulated the blueprint for life.

Among the most intricate creations of the biosphere is us, humanity.

The human species has evolved into a species with the unique ability to alter the landscape in which we exist and live. It's pretty freaking amazing. The achievements of humanity sometimes leave me in awe. However, I am more often than not, terrified.

And speaking of terrified, our planet is now on the verge of moving into another sphere, possibly one of extreme danger.

I think I need to explain ...

Spheres of Life

It is almost inconceivable to grasp the biosphere.

From the ground's deepest roots to the smallest mammal or bird, all living beings and organisms have a life-supporting blanket that surrounds them.

The biosphere is this life-supporting blanket, a multi-coloured blanket of monotonous expansion, covering the vast depths of the ocean to mountainous peaks, creating a thin, teeming layer of existence everywhere.

In contrast, the geosphere is the solid, inanimate portion of the planet. Quite literally, it is the bedrock of our existence, from the Earth's inner core to its outer crust. In addition to continents, mountains, and ocean basins, the geosphere also includes glaciers. The natural processes of tectonic movement, erosion, and weathering occur within this sphere.

Following this, we move on to the hydrosphere, the totality of Earth's water, including oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, groundwater, and even airborne water vapor. Our planet's hydrosphere plays an integral role in sustaining life, regulating climate, and shaping the geosphere.

Next is the atmosphere, the gaseous envelope that surrounds the planet. In addition to providing us with air, it also acts as a shield against harmful sun rays. It also plays an important role in maintaining the planet's heat balance and the battleground for weather phenomena.

Aside from the atmosphere layer we frequently interact with, there are two more significant regions: 1. thermosphere and 2. ionosphere, which, intriguingly, overlap in interesting ways.

The thermosphere is the layer above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. It's characterized by exceedingly high temperatures, hence its name, with the temperature increasing with height.

NASA's International Space Station and the space shuttles orbit the planet in the thermosphere. Additionally, it is often the scene of mesmerizing Northern Lights-auroras.

Such unique marvels and displays of nature are the result of solar particles colliding with thermosphere gases, creating bursts of light.

The ionosphere, on the other hand, is a charged, or 'ionized,' layer of the Earth's atmosphere. It sits roughly 75-1000 km (46-621 miles) kilometers above the Earth's surface.

While it includes parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere, the ionosphere also extends to the exosphere, making it a substantial and significant sphere.

Why so? Well, the ionosphere is crucial for radio communication, as it reflects radio waves back to the Earth's surface, enabling long-distance communication. Pretty cool right?

The ionosphere also plays a vital role in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere, where it interacts with the solar wind.

So, yeah, our planet is a complex and delicate balance of lots and lots of 'spheres,' from the terrestrial to the outer reaches of the atmosphere.

Of course, there are dozens more "spheres" I have not mentioned.

But in order to understand how humanity and our actions as well as future actions affect such Earthly spheres of life, we must understand the nature of such spheres and their intra-systemic interactions.

Technological Majesty

Take a look at the TV and you'll see a lot of programs discussing the interaction of the spheres I've just spoke about, from climate change, carbon storage, economic energy security plans, natural disasters, wars and even plagues.

The world around us has been uniquely shaped by our existence within a few spheres in particular, such as the biosphere, which has been shaped by historical processes and our actions collectively.

The unique power we have as a species, however, has a double-edged sword.

Despite our brilliance, humanity has become an unpredictable and volatile component of the biosphere.

Increasingly, our actions are having a greater impact. Within the biosphere, our actions surface area or impact-radius is constantly expanding.

As it stands, we are threatening to wipe out the melody of life that flourished for billions of years before we, humans, had arrived.

In other words, we might be on the verge of transitioning from what might be considered the "first act" or "act one" of the grand symphony of existence into "act two".

Such a transition has been due to our interaction with Earth's life spheres via the evolution and results of technological majesty, of human communication, networked information technology (WWW) and techno-knowledge advancement.

The Second Act

The "second act" is often conceptualized by the rise of technology and the growing ecological footprint we leave behind.

Such technological progress is even referred to as the technosphere by some.

Technospheres are paradoxical, however.

Studying and observing nature has allowed humans to learn, grow, and evolve creatively and innovatively.

An excellent example is Artificial Intelligence. By studying the mind, consciousness of animals, mouse interactions, and neuron activity, we can apply these insights to computer chips and models of information.

Another example is how we have extensively been studying flying insects and birds with respect to the development of drones.

All such processess of applying learnings and insights to the development of modern technology is called biomimetics and bionics.

And so, the "second act" or rise of the technosphere marks a transition from merely human to something greater.

In short, a shift to "act two" marks an additional dimension of existence, the birth of a new bionic-world thanks to biomimetics.

We now live in an environment where technological-systems are gradually intertwining with the organic, material biosphere.

As a result, technology has evolved into a formidable force for good but also a megamachine that creates a maelstrom of complexity, specialization, social stratification and coal burning.

Increasingly, this technosphere is triggering tensions and disparities among societies of different shapes, sizes and geographical locations.

What is more, the technosphere, thanks to AI, is gradually becoming an autonomous technosphere, changing the very nature of human thinking within the biosphere. Yikes.

Serious Questions

In spite of being a techno-optimist at heart, technological progress can inspire but also pose considerable risks. It's akwardly paradoxical.

The ever-expanding technosphere, fed by relentless bionic technological advancements, is disrupting Earth's energy equilibrium, leading to increased carbon emissions, the tragic loss of biodiversity, and unchecked population growth.

There's no doubt that as we produce more information (and data), the more we'll have to move, share, record, transmit, locate, and utilize that information across different spheres of life.

Data or information, increasing in unit-size, density, weight, length and energy, now intertwined with the Earth's biosphere, is indirectly becoming a major contributor and producer of carbon emissions.

And so, all of this begs some serious questions.

Will the "second act" see the world as a harmonious blend of the biosphere and the technosphere?

Or will the technosphere canibalise our biosphere?

And will we be guided more by human intuition than by science or global corporations in shaping such a spherical relationship?

I wonder and think about such questions often.

I guess, it's up to us, humans.