Most Etherites no longer simply ask after the many possibilities of Science, but also what kind of impact such Science could have on humanity and the Earth. Harman also recognized the large (and often problematic) role that consciousness plays in the Consensus, and the needed to better understand how it might be harnessed in positive ways. Harman has pushed for the Tradition to counter the Technocracy with the transformation of scientific institutions to support the personal development of individual Sleepers within an environment of potentially limited. Instead, the Chairs have pushed a new Etherite philosophy that places human beings, Awakened and Sleepers, as integral parts of the natural world, and individual self-realization and environmental sustainability as synergistic rather than contradictory paths forwards Ascension. The Tradition, as a whole, has put off re-establishing funding Ether travel until the Ethernaut scouts have returned with their findings. The Storm is an enigma too significant to to ignore, and many believe its power, if properly harnessed, could be just the edge the Traditions need (or at least a potent weapon).
Research and field work concerning the Storm, its origins, and have taken a priority. Her focus on human potential gained her the Hastings Chair (Pro Tempis), and under her guidance the Tradition has moved forward with a slate of changes and funding priorities. In her many scholarly works, novels, and talks she has insisted that civilization will soon face a period of major cultural and environmental crisis, and must be prepared for a profound transformation of human consciousness. The experience completely changed her concept of what is important in education, and inspired her to pursue human potential as a kind of meta-discipline. During the retreat some unknown Etherite introduced her to the Kitab al-Alacir, and she Awakened. Scholar, novelist, and Futurist Wilhelmina “Willa” Harmen was a tenure track electrical engineering and physics professor at Stanford in the 1980s before she attended at a meditation retreat seminar on ethics, meditation, and the spiritual life that had a transformative effect on both her thinking and her career.
Professor Emeritus Alexis Hastings has yet to return to the fold to resume her duties so a Chair Pro Tempis was selected. When the New Horizon Council was called the Hastings Chair of the Council of Nine remained empty.
With the old guard now in decline, a more diverse cadre of Professors and Chairs have taken up the cause of Science. Furthermore, the myth of Great Men that founded the Electrodyne Engineers and whom were supposed to save us all has proven hollow. Disconnected from the Gernsback Continuum, the Tradition can no longer dwell among the angular clouds of its favored Horizon Realm, and create solutions aloof from the concerns of those they have pledged to help. The Storm proved to be a cauldron of transformation for the Tradition, and the changes are more than just its name. The selection of Chairs began not long after as the Tradition came face to face with a groundswell of inspired Scientists. This resulted in Paradigma Volume 95, Issue 1 (2002) wherein Progressivists declared a new aeon for Ether, one lead not just by its Sons by the Society. The Etherites were among the first to heed the call of the Rogue Council, and its Manifesto was passed from lab to lab, renewing the flagging Tradition’s spirits. What few Etherites languished in their isolated laboratories to wait out the Storm. With Paradigma having stopped production in 1997 many believed the Sons of Ether were no more. Chairs went vacant, funding declined, and the lecture halls were shuttered. Horizon is dying husk in Etherspace, the Conflagration caused untold damage, and the loss of the Gernsback Continuum cut the Tradition off from many of its greatest leaders and thinkers. Members were at all the major battle brandishing laser guns, power armor, and a host of gadgets to do battle against their enemies.
When the Storm came the Society of Ether ran towards the flames rather than from them. Cut off from the Gernsback Continuum, at least for now, the newly named Society of Ether has had to reconcile with its past mistakes and decide whether or not a better future is possible. The Storm hit the Society of Ether nearly destroying the Ethernauts, the Crash crippled the Cybernauts, and the battles of the end of the Ascension War took the lives of many of Science’s greatest warriors. Thomas Dolby, She Blinded Me With Science Reckoning