2000

In Edmond Kirsch's computer simulation of the history of life on Earth, the year 2000 marks a pivotal juncture. The simulation, which visualizes the rise and fall of dominant species through expanding and contracting bubbles, shows that by this date, the blue bubble representing Homo sapiens has swollen to occupy nearly the entire width of the screen, confirming humanity as the planet's prevailing species, with no other life-form even approaching its influence. Yet, at this very moment of apparent supremacy, the model reveals a subtle but ominous development: a tiny black shape is beginning to form above the swollen blue bubble of humanity. This newcomer appears trivial at first, a small remora on the back of a blue whale, but its presence signals the dawn of a new era.

The Emergence of the Technium

Kirsch's simulation identifies this nascent black bubble as an entirely new kingdom of life, which he names the Technium. This kingdom encompasses all of technology, from simple tools to complex machines, and it evolves according to Darwinian principles of adaptation and survival. The year 2000 is the point at which this kingdom first registers as a significant force in the simulation, having been quietly growing in the background. As the simulation moves forward from 2000 to the present day, the black bubble expands enormously, claiming more than a quarter of the screen and jostling with Homo sapiens for influence and dominance. This rapid growth is a stark contrast to the slow, millennia-long expansion of the human bubble.

The Prediction of Absorption

When Kirsch allows the simulation to project into the future, the trajectory becomes dire. By the year 2050, the black bubble of the Technium has expanded at a staggering rate, entirely swallowing up the light blue bubble of humanity. The simulation does not depict a simple extinction, but rather an absorption. The black bubble, as it consumes the human bubble, assumes a different hue—a shade of purple—indicating a fusion of the two. Kirsch explains this as a rare evolutionary process known as obligate endosymbiosis, where two species fuse into one. The year 2000, therefore, is not just a marker of human dominance, but the historical moment when the seeds of humanity's transformation into a hybrid species—a fusion of biology and technology—were already sown, a transformation that Kirsch's model predicts will be complete within fifty years.