Toowering Maalevolence On November 5th, 2018 a conspiracy health blog reported a story of a mysterious mass mortality event of starlings in the Huijgenspark of the Hague. The birds had begun to drop dead by the hundreds and according to this report, it was in connection to the expansion of the 5G network around the city. As you might expect, the story was shown to be mostly untrue. At the time there were no tests of the new towers going on close to the park. A test had taken place earlier that year in the Hague, although it was not immediately followed by any similar incidents. The event itself did happen throughout the fall of 2018 and up towards 337 starlings were found dead around the park. The cause is yet to be determined. However, mass die-offs are, unfortunately, not that uncommon. The causes remain largely unknown, but poisoning is perhaps the most likely answer to these strange events. Although it is highly unlikely that 5G is the perpetrator, this story managed to awaken an unease in a lot of people. Animals dying in mass without any apparent reason certainly evokes some form of apocalyptic feeling, especially when the animals in question fall out of the sky. And after all, a starling is not much larger than an average household cat. This, if something, should be a reason for concern for all of us! The most obvious proof of the falsity of this story is of course that both us and our cats are alive and seemingly not under the influence of dangerous amounts of electromagnetic radiation at this moment. In 2018, 5G was still in a largely experimental stage. Two years later, a mast is seen on almost every block in my city. This has, so far, not led to any mass mortality events that are worth reporting about. However, the defining event of the first half of 2020 was something eerily similar. The advent of the virus rekindled the online debate about the safety of 5G. The apocalypse was now well on its way it seemed, it had started with the birds and now it came for humans. To some people, there was a clear common denominator and stories began to spread of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases which coincided with the building of 5G towers. This culminated in 77 cases of arson throughout the UK. Perhaps the fear these people feel towards 5G is unfounded. Even if they were to be right, the burning of cell phone towers is a terrible method for convincing people. But perhaps there is also a possibility of something deeper in their message, a rejection of modernity. Is there perhaps a case against these towers that we have not yet considered? It is certainly a hard case to advocate for. Especially considering the innumerable miracles of medicine and technology that science has provided us with. Because of them, we now live longer and more comfortably than ever before. Food and work are for the most part abundant. Diseases that were considered a death sentence have become mere annoyances. We have access to an information-entertainment network that spans the whole world and includes all the information that has ever been gathered by humanity, and we carry it in our back pockets. And yet, there seems to be something missing. Some vital aspect that seems to stop us from feeling completely fulfilled. Those familiar with Mazlow's hierarchy of needs might recognise this as an age in which the first three steps are guaranteed to those who live in the West. Our physiological needs as well as our need for security and belongingness is for the most part satisfied. However, we now lack a clear path towards self-actualization. While a farmer in the 1800s might have found himself actualized through his work. By providing a home and a shelter for his family and simultaneously acting according to the will of his God, he could sense the importance of his existence. This has been taken away from us in modern society. It has been decided upon that God is dead and that we are completely free to make our own decisions. It is a form of spiritual or cultural malaise that seems to permeate all of Western society. A lack of purpose that has led many into severe mental illness or addiction. Here we see how technology, despite its many wonders can also lead to our detriment. The ease at which entertainment or pornographic material can be acquired on the Internet has prompted large amounts of young men to spend hours behind the screen. A whole generation has become docile, harmless and vain. Their bodies flabby and weak, their minds dull and machinist. The loss of purpose has led to a constant chase after dopamine which ultimately achieves nothing. The time spent on social media and in video games is stolen away from that which could have been much more productive. It has led to a hugely inflated porn industry, whose true victims we begin to see now, not only in those who use it but also those who work in it. Furthermore, it has led to the increased monopolization and censorship of social media by large companies such as Facebook and Google. Despite the many issues, it is not a problem that is often discussed and in many cases, the resistance is often only a sham. In a way, all of us are addicted. The phone is probably the last thing you see before you go to bed and the first thing you see when you wake up. It is always there and most of us don't even want to leave this place. Those addicted to electronic entertainment are both literally and symbolically slaves to this machine. It is also true that this nexus of entertainment and information contains almost all of the human knowledge and is, therefore, one of the most valuable things we have at this time. I see a few problems with this. First of all, the Internet seems to contain at least an equal amount of misinformation. It can be hard to tell the truth from fantasy, which is what leads to stories of birds getting killed by 5G towers. Online media also tends to be heavily biased and mostly stick to the truth only if it benefits their ideology. When these companies have so much power that they become considered some form of arbiter of truth, it begins to be hard to distinguish fantasy from reality. The second problem is that the amazing abilities of the Internet have made us, in large part, fully dependent on it. Much like all forms of technology, it is at first only a convenience. Much like electricity at first, was reserved only for certain people who could afford it. A sideshow attraction and an oddity, it quickly became so important to humans that we cannot even picture modern civilization without it. In this case, the Internet began as a place to store and share information with others, sometimes with people on the other side of the world. However, could you today imagine a scenario in which the Internet disappears for one day? Could you imagine the number of deaths? Although 5G promises increased bandwidth, lower latencies and higher capacity, it might not be what humans need right now. Maybe we do not need to be able to download an episode of a Netflix series faster. Maybe we do not need to play our video games better or communicate over social
11
