Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Is the concept of being "human" in the 21st century still relevant....considering the rapid progress in human achievement and the quality of life? How do we balance innovation with the quality of humanity in today's world?

Hi Sibusiso (how do you pronounce that?)

Great question. When I first embarked on the journey that became the Original Earth series, I asked a similar question: Imagine if we were offered a new, uncontaminated planet and a fresh start, how would we wish to see humanity move forward…?

When you use the phrase: human achievement, the phrase is generally used from the perspective of a human. In my opinion, the perspective of all the other life forms with whom we share this planet are far more relevant...

In book four of Original Earth, a novel I am currently right at the beginning of, Anu (main character) returns to Original Earth . The time is approximately 136 years in the future.... So I am having a lot of fun imagining how and why humanity has changed... There are a myriad scenarios I can explore, so will focus on one small area and dive in there... To start with... :)

This world is vast with so many problems that it's hard to solve them all. & if one would try they will surely lose themselves.

I've found it easier for myself and I have taught others to focus on the change in the lives around you, better them, better you.
Although sometimes this means betrayal from the people we help build.
Which is painful & makes good peoples hearts turn cold.


If humanity is to maintain, we must plant three seeds and guard their growth:

🌳 Honour thy Guardians. Protect those who protect us; those who defend society (Law enforcement, nurses, mentors, veterans, fire fighters, e.t.c .) should be honoured, not discarded. Not hated because people fell to the manipulative scum of the media.
“Give respect to those who endure hardship for the sake of the whole.”

They deserve our protection in return. A reminder to the youth they’ll manipulate you to tear & burn your cities down. Saying it's an act of care not terror to its citizens and all those tryin’ to survive there.

🌾 Let effort matter again: A gift without effort breeds indifference. Teach others to sow their field, and they’ll value the harvest.\
(I was raised if you want something, you work for it. Everything I have I worked for it & appreciate it all.)’
“Don't expect to reap a crop you did not plant nor care for.”

🕊️ Heal by releasing, not tightening those chains into remembering; Forgiveness isn’t about excusing the pain; it’s about freeing yourself from being its prisoner. Showing compassion in a world that may have not shown you any kindness back. To some weary soul who may need it.

Because they were treated like you & me. & Lord knows we needed some form of compassion that we gave to others yet never really got it back. The only simple fact was we lessened the suffering of someone else.

& strangely that made us feel a little better, that we eased their suffering, without their knowledge we suffered as well.

Food For Thought:
❖🌐
What if artificial evolution is not the end of being human—but the rebirth of it?

What if the merging of man and machine wasn’t a surrender of soul,
but a refinement of the spirit forged in steel and silicon alike?

We grow tired. We bleed. We break.
But we also adapt.

Just as nature shapes the wolf’s claws, perhaps our claws now become cybernetic; not to destroy, but to build, protect, and heal.

Imagine a world where pain no longer disables,
where lost limbs are reborn stronger—like Edward Elric’s automail.
Not symbols of weakness,
but of battles survived.

Artificial intelligence does not erase love.
It may only offer us new forms of understanding it.
Faster minds, deeper connection, longer lives…
But still, the same core questions:
Will you be kind with your power? Will you protect, or dominate? Will you love, or control?

The Stoics taught that we cannot change fate,
only how we meet it.

So if our fate is cybernetic…
then let us meet it as evolved humans who remember their soul, even when reforged in metal.

Peace is not a product of softness,
but of strength used gently.
& perhaps… just perhaps…
that is the final evolution of us all. ❖🌐