“He thought about the rapidly changing world in which he lived. A new world, a science-fictional society, was growing up around him with disconcerting speed and Vigour. It was both exhilarating and frightening to be alive in these times. Mankind had acquired the ability to reach the stars, to take a giant leap off this world and spread out through the universe – but he had also acquired the ability to destroy the entire race before the inevitable immigration could begin. New technology – like the computer - freed men and women from all kinds of drudgery, saved them vast amounts of time. And yet … and yet the time saved did not seem to mean additional leisure or greater opportunities for meditation and reflection. Instead, with each new wave of technology, the pace of life increased; there was more to do, more choices to make more things to experience, and we seized upon those experiences eagerly and filled up the hours that had only moments ago become empty. Each year life seemed to be flitting past with far greater speed than the year before, as if god had turned up the control knob on the flow of time, but that wasn’t right, either, because even the concept of god seemed dated and hopelessly fantastic in an age in which the universe was being forced to let go of its mysteries almost on a daily basis. Science, technology and change were the only gods now, the new trinity; and while they were not consciously cruel and judgemental, as the old gods had been, they were too coldly indifferent to offer any comfort to the sick, the lonely, and the lost.”
