We can’t recreate the Library of Alexandria’s knowledge but we can call a bot Alexa in its honor.

“The envious man dies not only once but as many times as the person he envies lives to hear the voice of praise …” – Baltasar Gracián

The control of the power of creation is not the same as the power of creation.

There will always be a sense of inferiority surrounding those attempting to control that which they cannot create. In their anger and resentment they instead focus their energy on the power of destruction. Equating the power to destroy whatever has been created as equal to the act of creating something new. But even they know that without those who can create they have no power. There must be a creation in existence before anything can be destroyed.

Those who look with envy upon another’s ability to create often use coercion to force creation upon demand and punish those who either refuse or fail to create as directed. Alongside these attempts the envious also pursue a course that proclaims themselves to be equal, or even superior, creators. They build machines and teach them to mimic the creative fields of human endeavor. The machine itself is a creation to be proud of but for them it is not the goal. If it were the goal, they would be celebrating their success.

Machines that save lives by working the dangerous, low-paying jobs that regularly destroy human lives and health would be a boon to society. But the envious wish to leave humans to their back breaking toil and instead create machines that emulate the higher functions of what makes a human human. They want to make things that sing better than any human can sing. They push to steal centuries of the written word so that their creation is better than any human writer. They would have their machines outpaint the masters and then they would design the perfect human beings to be the subjects of their anonymized portraiture. All because they cannot. Because they have limitations themselves.

When Cain slew Abel it wasn’t because Abel did anything wrong. It was because Cain was envious of Abel and rather than changing himself, or accepting the limitations of his own choices, he instead chose to destroy Abel.

Eventually they believe their own illusions and see themselves as superior to those who create. A short look at how wages are decided nearly always has the lowest pay at the closest point to the actual creation of something new. The highest wages go to those who control the people who do the creating. The real estate developer vs the journeyman construction worker or the bench jeweler vs the jewelry designer are just 2 examples of the farther away from the creation the higher the pay.

Pablo Picasso said “Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction”. Who created what he destroyed then?

“Life, which you so nobly serve, comes from destruction, disorder and chaos.” – Emanuel Zorg (The 5th Element)

Society will tell us that the most powerful among us are those that can destroy life, or buildings, or entire civilizations. Those masters of destruction are the people who are essential for their money, or their connections, and we need to honor them above others; listen to their wisdom. The truth though came forward during the pandemic. The most important people were not those that with destructive power, they were the people who could create. They were the people who were able to save lives, make food, grow food, sell food, write, paint, sing, and create medical cures. Those were the essential workers, not the ones who chose to destroy what others created. That shift in view of who was important unsettled entire groups in society.

So why do we spend so much money and time on destroying things rather than respecting and appreciating those who can create? Maybe it’s because it’s easier and anyone can do it.

“It took a freaking genius to put this together, Michael.”

I hefted my staff.

“Fortunately,” I said, and took a two-handed swing at the nearest stand of slender, delicate crystal. It shattered with gratifying ease, and the encasing light around the greater circle began to waver and dissipate. “It only takes a monkey with a big stick to take it apart.”
― Jim Butcher, Small Favor