We use our technologies to adjust to the abnormal, and then we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are living in circumstances that are normal. Air conditioning (AC) is a classical example.

Air conditioning was rare prior to the 1960s, even in America. It has now become a necessity in many parts of the world. Indeed, many regions of the United States would not be habitable without AC. And this is becoming the case in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Middle East, the Gulf States, parts of the Orient and many regions of Europe. When temperatures this July hit 40°C in parts of Paris, riots broke out as people competed to buy the few remaining cooling devices. Many European cities were never designed to be liveable at such temperatures, particularly in Paris where apartments with skylights become saunas. A detailed analysis of death rates has estimated 200,000 Europeans died prematurely in the last four years from heat-related causes, and the global number of annual fatalities has been estimated at 498,000.