The Unimaginable?

I read a lot of science fiction when I was in my teens and twenties, avidly immersing myself in the work of (in no particular order) Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein, Arthur C Clarke, Frank Herbert, H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Brian Aldiss, Clifford D Simak, John Wyndham, Harry Harrison, Ursula LeGuin, J.G. Ballard, Douglas Adams, Anne McCaffrey, Larry Niven, Iain M Banks, E.E. 'Doc' Smith, Philip K Dick, Theodore Sturgeon, Frederick Pohl, ... the list goes on and on. I worked my way through library shelves. I had trouble getting to sleep unless I'd been reading.

There was a lot of dark, dystopian stuff. The novels also featured things which were unimaginable as a reality at the time (although presumably not by the author who imagined them). Satellites? Computers with AI which could react to verbal instructions? Communications equipment small enough to hold and without wires to tether it? Driverless cars? Humanoid robots? All here. Catastrophic climate change? Coming to a place near you soon, if not already here.

I've been listening to Forest 404, on the BBC. It's an immersive dystopian sci-fi eco thriller, with soundtracks including recordings of and mini-documentaries about the natural world, so it ticks a lot of boxes for me. The Rainforest Symphony reached deep into my memory of tropical places and jungle walks in Malaysia, nearly 50 years ago. I love the layers of calls; birds, tree-frogs, stridulating insects, rustling leaves, running water.

Take part in the Forest 404 experiment by clicking here to access the site. I didn't find the questions really matched what I thought - they seemed to be slightly angled towards a younger, urban demographic. Some of the sounds and questions produced a sort of bitter-sweet response in me, in that I loved them as part of the natural world, and awareness of their accelerating destruction makes me sad. I don't think my results will be accurately interpreted. [Apologies in advance in case the BBC links break.]

Whether inside or outdoors, I find I'm aware, however peripherally, of natural noises. The sound of water and waves, the rattle of poplar leaves. bird calls, wind in the branches, grasshoppers, I  listen.

What would it be like not to be able to hear them, because the natural world no longer existed?

Heartbreaking.

Unimaginable.