It's funny... we talk about stuff like that around here, quite often. What if, indeed, everything we experience and are part of is actually a self-correcting "smart machine" that causes these crazy breakdowns so imbalances can right themselves? For me, it works... because I subscribe to a sort of belief in "the power of human apathy." Meaning that something REALLY HORRIBLE has to happen before the majority awakens from it trances and slumbers to take action for change.

I'm just rambling incoherently (long day) but I think I get where you're going with this...