War of the Worlds

I went and saw War of the Worlds today. The movie was fantastic. It was full of action to keep me on the edge of my seat, I cared about the characters, etc. It was beautiful (and hideous). Funny - it reminded me of two things:

1) One of the books I am currently reading, Billions and Billions by Carl Sagan, begins with a chapter on quantification. He gives a refresher (to me, at least) of geometric sequencing and exponential increase, and applies the concept to population.

We have all heard the doctrine before, beginning with bacteria. One microbe begets 2 others with beget 4 others, etc., until the vial is full. Overpopulation occurs. But something always stops the curve, at least in nature. Not enough food, for instance, lack of space. Otherwise, the bacteria would overrun the universe in a (short) matter of time.

The concept applies to humanity. In the last few centuries, we have seen a spike in human population, from the sub-billion level to over 6 billion. The human race is quickly spreading over (infesting?) the earth. What will stop us? We cannot possibly continue much longer (relatively) before it becomes a major problem (some say it already is).

Which brings us to:

2) Another book I have read, several years ago. Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank, tells a story of what it would be like, from the eyes of a small Florida town, had the Cold War turned hot. The book horrified me when I read it, so much so that when an airplane would wake me in the morning flying over head, I would roll off my bed and take cover. The idea of mass destruction to the population terrifies me. The idea of looking outside and seeing the thunder of war at my doorstep frightens me. Not conventional warfare, mind you (though the thought is far from comforting). I am talking thermonuclear warfare - the kind that you can only survive through if you are lucky, and survive after if you are intelligent.

Now don't get me wrong - I am not a pacifist. It has been years since I released such idealism. At this point in human evolution/thought, war seems, to me, to be a necessary evil to be dealt with. But the idea of such mass distruction haunts me. That isn't war - it's genocide. I think it is the futility that I abhor.

The movie was very effective at conjouring the same emotions that the above brought. Everything from the futility of fighting the antagonists to the heartstopping foghorn call of the Tripods sent chills down my spine and filled me with utter dread.

Of course - I loved every minute of it.