Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

The sons of Noah and their wives have obeyed the LORD's command to be fruitful and multiply.  As the population increases, the people begin migrating to other lands.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 

When Noah and his family left the ark (back in Genesis 9), God commanded:
 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
That really looks easy to understand. It looks hard to misunderstand.  But of course, the people know how to plan better than God.

The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 

This is a scary pronouncement from God -- that this is only the beginning; nothing they intend to do will be impossible for them.  Confusing mankind's language is really just a stalling tactic.  Even as people's lifespans decrease (and their intelligence decreases and their immorality increases) humanity has harnessed languages (like money, computer languages, mathematics, music, and English) that span borders and span time. We are reestablishing a language.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

It sounds like groups of people adopted common languages (within tribes or people-groups) and they went off to do their own thing.

So, another section in the Bible, a chapter in the story of humanity, without prayer.  No one on the plains of Shinar asked God why this happened and the LORD did not explain why this city and tower needed to be stopped.

But this was the end of global project management -- at least for a time.
There are still attempts at a global governance:

• Nebuchadnezzer ruled the neo-Babylonian empire, the superpower of the ancient world.
• Alexander the Great, Basileus of Macedon, Hegemon of the Hellenic League, Shahanshah of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt, Lord of Asia worked to conquer the known world
• Greece became a world power and spread its influence in terms of art, language, and an abstract mode of thought.
• Rome became a world power and built a communication and transportation network that aided in making war and levying taxes.
• England and western Europe became world powers through exploration and commerce, spreading the idea of standardized currency and bookkeeping (and debt).
• The League of Nations was formed at the end of World War I to preserve global peace
• The United Nations was formed at the end of World War II to preserve global peace.

 And now technology prophets like Ray Kurzweil are predicting a form of transhumanism called "The Singularity" when they expect knowledge systems, artificial intelligence, medical technology, and nanotechnology to converge to create some form of super-intelligence. Something exponentially smarter than all the people who have ever lived.

Up to that point, it's vaguely possible to imagine what the world might be like in a year or a decade.  But after the Singularity, the rate of change and type of change will be so fast and so unexpected that no one can predict what will come next.

That goes beyond global governance -- towards cosmic influence.

The Singularitarians haven't learned from the Christian prophets who predicted when Christ would return to earth.  Kurweil says the Singularity will occur around 2045, Vernor Vinge expects it sometime before 2030. Surveys indicate the year 2040 was the average expectation from the attendees of the 2012 Singularity Summit.

I wonder if humanity is once again capable of building something that will get God's attention -- enough for him to come down and confuse us again?

Unlike the folks on the plain, I intend to keeping praying.