Optimism is important.
The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo.
This powerful animation captures a lot more than history. It shows why World War II may be the most important conflict the human race has ever foisted upon ourselves, and how the world seems to have reacted to it.
I am an optimist. Possibly from being inundated with Science Fiction, I absolutely and thoroughly believe that the human race has benevolence and empathy in our future.
This it an extremely tenuous notion, however. The video above illustrates agonizingly beautifully how disgusting we can be as a species, and shows a glimmer of hope that we are capable of learning as a society. Watch it immediately, all the way through if you have not already, before reading more.
We live in something of a state of fear as a culture, and this is often decried as nonsensical by many elements, myself included. What this animation suggests to me, however, is that we are all still reeling from the worst conflict in human history. Even those of us who weren’t even close to alive during the war feel its effects daily, we look with horror at any conflict as the media shines a constant (albeit at times annoying) light on the happenings of the globe. I think that our global society remembers World War II viscerally.
Now, what happens when we stop talking about it?
Do we forget what happens? Do we think that a new great war might solve some problems? Will we be saved by technology, or will it enable a new catastrophe?
I have to hope that the trend we are on worldwide is due to the increased awareness that our technological inter-connectivity has brought, and that it will continue into the stars. I have to hope that the graph of human conflict ends with World War II, that we leave the mountain of war death behind us. Perhaps only then can we remember those slain with anything more than absolute shame.