The Titan disaster shows the effect of human hubris in the deep sea By Karen Attiah
Columnist| Washington Post
June 23, 2023
As a fan of the movie Titanic, the tragic event of the five adventure-seeking men—including a father and son—who went under the deep sea in search of the relics of the legendary “unsinkable ship” that ironically sank in 1912, and never came back filled me with the agony and contrition of a poet. The type that made John Donne to write those sad, sad words from a broken heart: “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
In my own agony and journey across the sea of the Internet, I came across this masterpiece by Karen Attiah, 36, an American writer born in Dallas, Texas to Ghanaian parents, a columnist with Washington Post who looks at the “Titan disaster” from an Afrocentric perspective which tallies with the stand of President Obama who said in a CNN interview with Amanpour: “Right now, we have 24-hour coverage. And I understand it, of this submarine, the submersible that tragically is right now lost at the bottom of the sea. At the same time, right here, just off the coast of Greece, we had 700 people dead – 700 migrants who were apparently being smuggled into here. And it’s made news, but it’s not dominating in the same way. And in some ways, it’s indicative of the degree to which people’s life chances have grown so disparate.” Without further ado, I bring you this classic piece by Karen Attiah:
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In the Yoruba religious tradition, divine spirits known as orishas rule over various cosmic forces and elements of nature. There is Shango, the king—the orisha of thunder and fire; Yemaya, the orisha of the ocean; and Oshun, who rules rivers and lakes.
There is also a lesser-known orisha, Olokun, who is androgynous and rules the deepest parts of the ocean, where light does not penetrate. Olokun is an extremely fearsome and vengeful orisha, upset with humans for not showing proper reverence. According to some tellings, Olokun is chained to the bottom of the ocean so as to restrain them from destroying humanity. The pressure of the deep ocean represents the origins of life and threatens gruesome, instant death for humans. It is for all these reasons Olokun is rarely challenged or disturbed, even by the other orishas.
This week has been a reminder that for all of humanity’s inventions, we cannot dominate the deep, deep sea.
For days, news outlets and social media have been transfixed by the search for a submersible that went missing while on a dive to view the wreckage of the Titanic. The vessel, operated by a tour company called OceanGate, was carrying wealthy individuals who paid $250,000 each to make the dive to the resting place of the doomed ocean liner, which sank in 1912. On Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard announced that searchers had found debris “consistent with the catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber,” and that it had notified the families of the passengers onboard that all had been killed.
In addition to the Coast Guard, an expert from the British Royal Navy and French specialists had joined the search. This has prompted criticism that the world’s media and its governments care more about wealthy experience-seekers than they do about migrants lost to sea while seeking a better life. They aren’t wrong.
But there is something more complex to examine here, about the social value of certain perilous journeys. I’ve been thinking about this Post op-ed by Brandon Presser. He writes:
“Water is our birthright but also a force of great destruction, holding a record of everything it claims. To visit the depths of the ocean is not an act of arrogance, then, but something quite the opposite: an acknowledgment of our obsolescence. It’s fitting that the desire to blindly careen toward the ocean floor goes hand in hand with our curious obsession with the Titanic. The felled ship, once touted as the world’s greatest, has remained a parable for nature’s power over the mightiest efforts of humankind to assert its dominance over the planet.”
“Our” obsession? I’m not sure it’s so universal.
I find it interesting that sunken slave ships, which I would argue are the true symbols of Europe’s ability to enslave people and exploit nature in faraway lands, have not generally become the subjects of people’s romantic fixations. But I digress.
I’ll admit: When I was 12 and James Cameron’s 1997 film “Titanic” came out, I was swept up by Titanic mania. But the obsession with the Titanic tracks most closely with the White, Western world’s obsession with technological dominance — which allowed Europe to explore and pillage other countries, wipe out entire peoples and enrich itself by exploiting the Earth’s resources.
Indeed, the Titanic — and, now, the submersible — might be a reminder that the deep ocean is the only resource-rich realm on Earth with the power to keep White men from exploiting it.
There’s a reason many of us Black folk struggle to understand why many White, wealthy folk participate in extreme, death-defying experiences and pay (often lots of money) to experience smallness and powerlessness. It’s a romanticism of peril, of death, as a way to appreciate life — in other words, a privilege. For the poor and the marginalized, the threat of social obsolescence and powerlessness is a lived, everyday reality. No need to pay for the, er, thrill.
Of course, I sympathize with the families of those who perished in the submersible. But I wonder: What is the social value of whatever the wealthy experience-chasers were trying to do with their Titanic dive? What was so globally important about their plight that teams from multiple countries were dispatched to try to rescue them?
Meanwhile, migrants — who are arguably much braver but have far fewer resources — are demonized and left to die, despite the fact that all they want is the opportunity to work, to contribute value, to live.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m #TeamOlokun. There are some realms on Earth that are meant to be mysteries — not to be mastered.
*Karen Attiah (born August 12, 1986) is a Ghanaian cum American writer and editor. She serves as Global Opinions editor for The Washington Post. In her Twitter handle @KarenAttiah she wrote: “I wrote about human hubris, the Titan disaster, and why Yoruba religious tradition warned us long ago to leave the deep ocean alone.”
Karen Attiah is a columnist for The Washington Post and writes a weekly newsletter. She writes on international affairs, culture and social issues. Previously, she reported from Curacao, Ghana and Nigeria
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