Emergence of the Cyber-Dragon

Well, recent events have revealed a Cyber-Dragon lashing its tail, showing its teeth and breathing fire! No longer hiding in its cave, now even some of its natural acolytes are waking up to its nature and attempting to flee its fiery breath. Other concerned citizens are gathering on what they hope may continue to be an 'information commons', fearful that at any moment they may find themselves ejected and dispersed from this 'common', or even unable to fly on planes.

I am hopeful that it is a good thing that the dragon is out of its lair and being seen. It is healthier than a masked menace hidden in the deep or dark. (I have heard that most of what we ordinary folk think of as the Web is about 2% of its operation. The rest (97%) is the Deep, or the Dark.)

It has to be a learning curve for individuals and for humanity as a whole, this maturing into a cyber-future which a hundred years ago, before science fiction writers began to intuit the shape of things to come, would have seemed utter fantasy. We think of dragons as fantasy beasts, until as powerful symbolic image of emotions and energies with collective power, they take on reality.

If a St George is needed, his lance must be straight and true. What might be that lance?

It would need to pierce through many scales: a carapace composed of elements derived from psychedelics, buddhism, environmentalism, materialism, meditation and motivational techniques, mental acuity, naiveté and fierce protectionism aimed at preserving the treasures and power accrued.

There may have to be St Georges, articulate warriors on the front line, but there are other larger forces too, vast immeasurable tides in the affairs of men, trackless products of the unseen. And like watching the sea returning from the walls of Mont St Michel, rivulets creep across the sand from this direction and that, small shining incursions from a distant source. Eventually, the great sea surrounds the mount, lapping the ancient fortifications which stand firm right to the cloistered summit, where a golden St Michael raises his sword.

May the Mont be with us as we navigate the quicksands of 2021!