Oil/petroleum/gas have huge societal and human benefits, and yet, so many negative side effects (climate change, pollution, war, etc.) and complications. "Energy" has these challenges, like many natural resources.
sigh
I can't quite find the right words.. The electrification / "energization" of things seems to add this tangible quality of also being confounding, complicating and somehow exhausting to us.
It's like when you are walking out in nature somewhere remote, say, in a forest, where all you see are trees and rocks and rivers/streams, and breathe fresh air. There is something about this natural/analog state of being that can soothe us (although, nature can be quite alarming too). Books, analog toothbrushes, un-powered hand tools... things like this seem (in my opinion) to help humans feel... more human (and in control).
There was a moment of this kind of feeling of awe of nature that was so amazing the other day when the eclipse happened in the US. A moment where it was like, everyone put down their phones, their lives, their problems and... just observed this phenomenon of beauty. It was simple and fleeting, but wonderful.
I think the author is onto something here, but it's hard to say it in words. Is it an awakening of humanity within the digital age? A recognition of nature and humanity as something to balance with energy, digital, electronic? It definitely seems we are on this kind of a path.
Lest we forget that, it would not be the first time that there have been "awakenings" and "enlightenment" in humanity's history. For example, in western cultures - [1] [2], and certainly others in other cultures. It seems there is something to be learned from history here.
[1] The age of enlightment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
[2] The great awakening (religious context): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Great_Awakening