Mosquito Terminator
I went to see Avatar 3D last week at the IMAX theater, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The computer generated characters were surprisingly realistic, and the message, while a bit heavy handed, was both convicting and inspiring.
Avatar portrays a race of “people” who are deeply connected to the natural world, who respect their place within that balance, and who seem happier for it. Of course, it is a fictional world and a fictional race, but I think there’s a grain of truth in the idea that understanding and appreciating the natural order grounds us, and protects us from some of the trauma we experience in the modern world.
To my eye, Pandora looks very similar to the rain forests of South America, where I’m happy to say I’ve spent some time. It is absolutely overflowing with life; every tree is covered in vines, the vines are covered in moss, and the moss is covered in fungi and various creepy crawlies.
As I compared the movie world with my experience of the real world, I realized they forgot a few things: the bugs, diseases, and weather.
Pandora seems so idyllic and appealing precisely because it is so unlike our common experience of the outdoors. It gets cold, it rains, and I can’t leave my house in the summer without being chewed on by a swarm of blood-sucking mosquitoes.
Rather than appreciate my place in the natural world in those moments, I try to smash the little devils.
Two days after my Avatar experience, I spotted this video from the TED Talks 2010. It seems someone has come up with a very high-tech way of addressing my mosquito problem: lasers.
A week ago, I’d have considered the ability to destroy this vampiric nuisance mid-flight an act of pure genius. Now, that fascination is tempered by a nagging guilt over just how efficient we are at destroying living things.
Perhaps this better bug-zapper represents a step forward in our “kill-’em-all and let God sort them out” attitude toward pest management. Sure, it’s still efficient, high-tech, and stone-cold deadly, but at least the inventors are targeting one pest in a small area, not spraying dangerous pesticides indiscriminately.
Are we striking a balance between the natural world and human interests, or just taking another step down a slippery slope?
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