You can say that human beings constantly like to make bigger things, but certainly you’re forgetting that the Earth isn’t getting any bigger, and population growth is accelerating year after year. This makes me think about how we should get smaller and make our future reality more compact. When I ask you what “macro” is and what “micro” is, one thing comes to mind - measurement units: kilometer, meter, centimeter, things we use in our daily lives. However, there is a measurement unit we don’t know so much about - the nanometer, and that unit is of great interest to me. I can’t show you what a nanometer is because it’s invisible to the naked eye. I can, however, give some examples: There are a billion nanometers in a meter, the weight of a paper sheet is 100,000 nanometers, and the diameter of a hair is between 80,000 and 100,000 nanometers. For sure, we’ve had great technological advancements so far, such as the computers that took us to the moon, but even they couldn’t match the portable object we carry in our hands and bags - our cellphones do much more. And the most impressive thing about all this is that Mother Nature started developing from this point, evolving from micro to macro. Technology appears in our lives in various ways: in telecommunications, education, at work, in medicine, and many other ways. It appears in medicine, for example, where robots are currently being used to perform much more effective and accurate surgeries, or in the development of new medicines. The world’s population is something that worries me a lot. In 2015, the world’s population was 7.3 billion people, and in 2021, the year that we’re in now, the world’s population is 7.9 billion people. Scientists estimate that by 2040, the world’s population will increase 1.2 billion more from 7.9 billion to 9.1 billion. Overpopulation really is a serious problem. Some countries have already lost the capability to control their population and keep from reaching high numbers. Others have taken extreme measurements to stop this, and in some countries, the exceptions, there is a negative natural growth, but with technological advancement, stabilized life expectancy rates, and accelerated birth rates, this natural growth could become positive again at any moment. Overpopulation brings big problems to us all: economic instability in these countries or regions, a poor health system, misery, and many other things including basic sanitation issues. But, as Malthus argued, someday we’ll live in poverty and misery, and all the food that we produce won’t be enough for us all. In fact, many people will die from starvation. It’s interesting because today we produce 1.5 times the food necessary to feed us all, yet people starve every day, and the number will only get higher. Clearly, almost every problem has a solution, and fortunately there is a solution for this one. Minimalism and small technologies are extremely important and intertwined. Of course, you don’t have to live with nothing, but you can always ask yourself these questions: “Is everything I have necessary? Do I need everything I have, or could I simplify my life?” Small technologies will be present in our life, whether you want them or not, but I’m sure no matter what you do or how you use them to bring a compact future into your life, you will live healthier. Like for example, the word “reboot,” it’s a new mindset. We can rethink and reboot our friendships, thoughts, our values, and our life choices, and by doing so, bring about a healthier life. In the pandemic, we realized the importance of space; we were trapped and felt distressed. With technological advancement, questioning, and a new mindset, we can have a more comfortable life without using up space, without using so much of the space we preach about so often. In this way, we can have a much better life for us all. But what can we do to have a healthier future? Well as I said before, we can do many things: be minimalistic, use small technologies, and acquire a new mindset, among other things. I’m sure we and millions of other people can adjust our way of thinking to make good use of our compact future, or we can continue on the path that’s holding the world back and bringing us to an end. Thank you very much.
