The Cue Ball That Sank Itself. Carbon, Silicon and the Civilisation That Played Against Itself. Is Humanity Building Its Own Replacement?
Every civilisation tells itself a story. Some say history is a march towards freedom. Others say it is a struggle for resources, power and survival. Some see history as the rise and fall of empires. Others see it as the creation of technology. But what if all these stories are fragments of a larger one? What if the defining story of our age is neither political nor economic, but biological? What if humanity's greatest achievement turns out to be the creation of its own successor?Imagine a game of snooker. The coloured balls sit motionless across a green table. Then comes the cue ball. It strikes one ball, then another. The entire table changes because of its movement. Nothing remains where it once was. Paths are altered. Positions disappear. Outcomes become irreversible. To an observer, the cue ball appears to be the master of the game.Yet the cue ball is trapped by the same rules as everything it touches. The most overlooked fact in snooker is that the cue ball can sink itself. T...