Got to Have the Books, You Know

 

Got to Have the Books, You Know

 

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“Why are you hoarding all these books?”

This is what the millennial asked us, and he wasn’t the first to question our attachment to hard copy reference material.

“I bet you haven’t opened most of them in years.” He was right, of course. “look at this. A full set of Encyclopaedia Britannica. What year was it published?”

“1984. The year we were married.”

“1984? That’s more than 40 years ago. You know how much knowledge has been accumulated in four decades? It’s all there on your smart phone. No, you really don’t need to keep all these dusty old books.”

I kind of agreed with him. What was available on the Internet was so vastly superior to our home library, it didn’t make sense to hold on to all that obsolete material.

“That’s rubbish,” my wife said. “Knowledge doesn’t become obsolete. It might be updated or added to but, appreciated in context, it is still of value.”

So, we kept the books and, as it has turned out, we made a wise decision not to rely solely on a digital store of information.

Not long after this interaction with the millennial, we heard that Russia had begun to rip up undersea cables in order to disrupt NATO communications, and China did the same to isolate Taiwan before launching a full-scale invasion, it became clear that World War Three was under way.

“You know what?” I said to my wife. “I wouldn’t be surprised if this madness leads to the elimination of the Internet.”

“You may be right. And that might not be such a bad thing, what with all the mindless drek there is on social media.”

Before it was too late, I decided to engage with ChatGPT and ask it to predict what the consequences would be if the Worldwide Web was torn to shreds. In a matter of seconds, this is what it spat out:

A global conflict that simultaneously severed undersea communication cables, destroyed satellites through a cascading orbital debris event (known as the Kessler syndrome), eliminated GPS, and disabled the internet would trigger an unprecedented global crisis.

Financial markets would be among the first casualties. International banking, stock exchanges, and payment systems would become unreliable or cease functioning, disrupting trade and causing widespread shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. Modern supply chains, dependent on real-time data and global coordination, would rapidly break down.

Military operations would become more dangerous and less predictable. Without satellite reconnaissance, secure communications, or GPS navigation, armed forces would rely on older methods of navigation and intelligence, increasing the likelihood of miscalculation and accidental escalation.

Civil aviation and maritime shipping would face severe disruption. Aircraft and ships could continue operating using backup navigation systems, but efficiency, safety, and capacity would decline dramatically. International travel and commerce would be drastically reduced.

Emergency services, hospitals, power grids, and water utilities would struggle as digital communications failed. Although many critical systems have local backups, prolonged isolation from global networks would make maintenance, coordination, and recovery increasingly difficult.

Scientific research, weather forecasting, disaster monitoring, and climate observation would suffer major setbacks due to the loss of satellites. Spaceflight could become impossible for decades if orbital debris made launches too hazardous.

Socially, the world would become more localized. Governments would likely impose emergency controls, while communities would rely more heavily on local production, radio communications, and face-to-face coordination. Nations with robust domestic manufacturing, food security, and resilient infrastructure would fare better than those dependent on global trade.

Recovery would likely take many years, requiring massive investment in rebuilding communications infrastructure, clearing orbital debris where possible, and redesigning critical systems to operate with far greater resilience and redundancy.

And it came to pass, as night follows day, the AI chatbot was proved spot-on in every respect.

As elderly pensioners, we live frugally, and the hardships that have come in the way of shortages has not affected us too badly. ESKOM manages to keep the lights on most of the time, and basic foodstuffs, although in limited supply, are available in the shops that have not closed their doors. Cell phones are useless other than for paid voice calls and SMS’s. Life goes on, after a fashion, and we can be thankful that, despite the deprivation and misery that abound, the country has not been drawn into the armed conflict ravaging most of the world.

“Aren’t you glad you listened to me and we didn’t get rid of our books?”

Of course I am glad. When I see the effect of having no access to the Internet has had on those we interact with, I realise how rich we are. Initially, it was as if people had been afflicted with a form of cerebral paralysis. They walked around with a dazed look in their eyes, as if they were on heavy psychiatric medication to alleviate their feelings of bereavement, impotence, abandonment and loneliness. It has been especially hard for the digital natives, many of whom had become almost entirely dependent on their phones to find their way through every aspect of modern life. Their access to knowledge, be it academic, political or social, has been severely curtailed, and they are still floundering with nothing to fall back on. At least we have our books, most of which are older than 20 years. We consult them more and more, and this helps us to remain psychologically grounded.

Interestingly, I have noticed that this has meant that our frame of reference has gradually retreated in time. Only half serious, I asked my wife if she felt any younger than before the Internet crashed.

“You mean mentally? I don’t know about that, but what I have noticed is a change in attitude towards us, as if we are no longer seen as irrelevant old fogeys.” She paused, and then said, “somebody at the door?”

It was the millennial. His demeanour had gone from condescending to deferential, and he had come to borrow another book.