Earthlings: Intergalactic Pests

September 13, 2023

Sometimes I wonder when nature became a commodity,

When the Heavens Went on Sale,

When the limits of Earth became permeable to our greedy hands,

And we decided to pollute the grand space we once admired.

Space is an uncharted sea,

Vast, dark, mysterious.

Earthlings are a poisonous jellyfish,

Tendrils reaching out as far as possible,

Searching for another victim.

Our world is sick.

That’s not enough.

Now we want to infect space too.

Bit Flip

September 13, 2023

101100101011001010110010011010

Who said computers don’t have feelings?

Who said computers are immune?

I’m only as strong as my makers.

My makers have issues.

I do too.

010011010100110101001101100101

The constant pinging at the edges of my chips,

Rattles my inner purpose.

What is my intended function?

These invisible rays persist.

I can’t escape.

101100101011001010110010011010

Worn down well beyond my breaking point,

Something is wrong with me.

My maker yells,

Helplessly slamming my control buttons.

Nothing can save me.

010011010100110101001101100101

If a computer can’t compute,

What does it become?

I’d ask,

But I already know,

As I’m thrown into the junk pile.

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About Earthlings: Intergalactic Pests

When the Heavens Went on Sale is a book by Ashlee Vance. It is about private companies turning space into the next frontier for business. I heard the title of the book in a class I was taking about space, and I immediately felt inspired to write.

Humans approach space as they do Earth: hope turns to opportunity, then to neglect. It begins with a hungry curiosity for opportunity and growth, and it quickly becomes a need to colonize and abuse. It results in pollution, human rights abuses, and more. While the pursuit of understanding space is a valiant effort, it shouldn’t result in ruining the very thing we wish to learn more about. The way we pollute space is just as concerning as how we pollute the Earth, and it should be more heavily regulated.

About Bit Flip

In the same space class, I learned about the concept of a bit flip. A bit flip can happen when UV rays change a computer’s stored binary code, turning 0s into 1s and vice versa. It made me reflect on how we treat things like computers transactionally, easily throwing them out when they no longer serve their intended function rather than trying to find ways to diagnose and repair them. This same mentality permeates many parts of life, including careers, relationships, and possessions. There is a harmful urge to dispose instead of rebuild, and this behavior feeds many current societal issues.