By Virginia Jasmin Pasalo

 

PHYSICIST Michio Kaku presented three mind-blowing predictions for the future:

1. We will become a space-faring species.
2. We will expand the brain’s capabilities.
3. We will defeat cancer.

In his predictions, he had incorporated the initiatives of three persons: Entrepreneurs Elon Musk who is exploring commercial space travel; Entrepreneur Jeffrey Bezos aims to transfer all polluting industries away from Earth; and Astrophysicist Carl Sagan who believes that Earth will eventually be hit by an asteroid, and to survive as a species, we need to think of a two-planet strategy, where humans can be moved, when the Earth is hit.

Kaku admits that while these long-term objectives are being explored, humans have to deal with Mother Nature’s 99.9% death sentence for all creatures on the planet, because while the benevolence of Mother Nature is evident, history has shown us that man’s ultimate destiny is under the ground. This means taking care of our environment, reframing our consciousness, engaging in meaningful endeavors to advance human development and capacity, and such other activities to mitigate the demise of our own planet.

But, humans seem to have a death wish, as evidenced by its current behavior and response to its own wellbeing. Take for example, how, governments deal with the pandemic, and how, citizens respond to safeguarding their own health. Just as when the pandemic seemed to have eased up a little, we go back to our careless habits, indulging in risky behavior, attending gatherings, increasing public mobility, disregarding quarantine requirements and other health protocols.

The Philippine government for example had been mired in controversies in its management of pandemic funds. Charges of incompetence and corruption have reached Senate investigations, but whose steam was overtaken by the news that the pandemic has slowed down, Christmas and New Year celebrations, and the excitement pumped up by the coming elections.

And here lies the harsh reality: the pandemic is not over. In fact, it is far from over and there is a resurgence of its continuing threat to decimate a large portion of the population once again. There is a high number of mutations including new variants and new inter-viral combinations. France has announced the discovery of B.1.640.2, a new variant they called IHU. Israel has confirmed the case of a “flurona”, a neologism composed of flu and corona viruses. India has discovered Delmicron, a combination of Delta and Omicron variants.

Secretary Francisco Duque of the Department of Health (DOH) appealed to the public to refrain from attending mass gathering and urged offices to again adopt alternative work arrangements. Director for Administration Lydia Pasalo Domingo of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) circulated a four-page guideline for municipalities and cities to implement Alert Level 3 until Jan. 15.

Except for Metro Manila, the rest of the country is caught up in the election campaign, in total disregard of the imminent danger of mass gatherings. I was told by a friend, Catherine Velasco, that in Pangasinan, the politicians are the main promoters of mass gatherings and disregard of health protocols in their campaign sorties. This is in direct contrast to the behavior and action made by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, who rejected a request for mass gathering at the Quezon City Memorial Circle (QCMC) for the Bongbong Marcos – Sarah Duterte campaign, for the simple reason that QCMC is a park, and would endanger the public, especially the children, who gather there every day.

So, Michio Kaku, if humans behaved this way towards self-annihilation, there may not be enough humans to experience the joy of your mind-boggling predictions.

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