Water Crisis
"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'" —Genesis 1:26-28
I write to you conflicted. A walking contradiction listening to the fountains in the library hoping to catch a hint of truth springing from their gurgle. If I had a pipe to smoke, I’d light it and pace back and forth on the spiral walkway, hands clasped behind my back in a trenchcoat and top hat maybe — you know, really thinking.
I feel like Søren Kierkegaard — my favorite conflicted existentialist — torn to shreds by thoughts of faith, authenticity, conformity and the endless contradictions that accompany those thoughts. I am a surfer in great existential distress. Ripped apart by my conflicted standing on progress and tradition and modernity — and this is not the first time.
Many years ago, after reading The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus I fell into a dark hole and it took me many years to get to where I can picture Sisyphus as happy, finally extinguishing my “What’s the point, we’re all gonna die” philosophy I held for probably a bit too long.
Those following along at home know that, especially in recent years, I have become more of a traditionalist — a “Trad” surf bro keeping it simple. I love my dawn patrols to surf 2-3ft and fair waves on my championship blade in a black wettie and long for the simpler era of surf mags and vids. I like black coffee and Old World wine, light lager’s brewed the same way for hundreds of years. Classics.
I also want to be sure that the waves I ride are blown to me by Mother Nature’s own breath, not pulsed by some wave machine no matter what DJ plays on the rail or motocross star jumps over the pool. That type of “surfing” is not for me. Give me the daily struggle at home any day.
But I wasn’t always like this. I kinda invented the idea of celebrating “onshore = offshore” as a progressive surfing concept. We wanted lips to hit, not tubes to hide under. Forget the past, this is now, etc. This all makes my current conundrum really complicated. More contradictions. More complicated.
You see, my problem with wave pools and technology in surfing is less a problem with progress and more about the personal beauty I have found in my own private pursuit for waves and ocean time. It was never about riding the actual wave for me, it’s always been about being a surfer. Being around the ocean. The pursuit. The hunt. The act was always just fun. I love saying “I surfed” when someone asks what I did earlier. That is my power source. So manmade progress in wave making never really mattered to me. It’s in a pool, so it's fun, but not surfing. Like going down a waterslide. Same same. Fun, but not “surfing.”
This week Mother Nature caused tragedy and devastation in the US and it put a spotlight on a technology that is now at the root of my existential crisis and why I’m pacing this library walkway like a 19th century philosopher with Surfline on my phone.
I have become fascinated by man’s ability and pursuit to control the weather. Particularly the company called Rainmaker based in El Segundo, CA. This whole idea is highly terrifying and…well, kinda exciting. And it contradicts everything I think I believe (maybe)…but how can you not be intrigued?
If we could make it rain a bit we wouldn’t have had to turn this fountain in the library off for 12 years that’s for sure. Fire season may not exist. And droughts would be a thing of the past. You see, I am pro progress for humanity, which comes in conflict with my more traditional personal values. But I also understand thoroughly that man’s ability to control comes with possibly more responsibility than man can handle. More conflict. More chaos. More power.
Artificial Intelligence, Rainmaker, charter cities, high speed rails. I'm into this stuff, but I also don’t love country club surf culture and feel that wave pools will never replace the ocean no matter how perfect they are. Can I be…both? Ugh, I may need to start stirring a martini. Wish I could call Søren.
I wrote the Bible verse above because it was referenced by Rainmaker CEO Augustus Doricko in his highly articulate explanation of his company after being accused and subsequently vehemently denying they had anything to do with manipulating the weather in Texas prior to the recent floods. But the explanation and justification for his company, and him being a devout Christian, using the word of God to justify his attempts at progress through manipulating the weather and God stating that man will “have dominion” over nature is powerful and controversial. And interesting! I was maybe not going to wade into this today, but here we are. Next week we’ll just talk about the upcoming Factory by the Sea party or something I promise.
But I think, à la our boy Nick Cave, that reading the Bible, or at least learning from it, is critical to a thinking man’s life. Take what’s there with a grain of salt, especially when you’re debating between tradition and progress because that can get really slippery in the holy book — but don’t disregard the texts and the lessons. Understand them, and then formulate your own response. There is wisdom in there even if you have sworn off the existence of a God, to which I would encourage you to try a little harder maybe. That’s a lazy theory. I think there’s more to the ground than dirt. More inertia in our existence than just a thud. But that’s another dry martini we’d have to have together.
Just because God has been muddled by religion and war and humans doesn’t mean we can’t use it as a prompt. Believe it or not. But learn from the writing. Hell, I occasionally look at Greek Mythology for inspiration/guidance but I don’t necessarily believe there’s a chariot pulling the sun across the sky. Life’s mysterious, don’t just skip it. Explore it.
Today, I'll cap this probably controversial post with this: if man can make rain, can man make wind too? And if man can make wind, can he make waves in the ocean? Can I be OK with riding them if I’m not OK with riding wave pools? I’d better start pacing these walkways some more before I answer that. Much to discuss and think about for a Pizza Friday. Sheesh. Send help.—Travis Ferré
