In a recent rerun of Star Trek some of the dialogue of William Shatner mentioned the ‘first colony’ on some planet ”in 1992′. In the heady space age dawn of 1968 that must have seemed like an achievable and worthwhile goal, and when you think of what 1992 was really like it gives one pause to wonder at how the rigidity of our cultures is never quites overcome by enthusiasm.
There will be colonies of course in due course but they will arise only when the merchants of the world see a profit in them, then and only then will countries invest. I recall the historical analysis of scientists many of whom are astonished when they first learn that the Ionian philosophers in the sixth to third centuries BCE were discussing the fact that matter must be made up of smaller bits that themselves cannot be broken, when trigonometry was common place and mathematics was significant enough to find out the world was round and they had a good understanding of blood flow and the heart and other organs, mostly from war but also from medical good practice.
How could we have known all that and lost it? The answer given is that the merchants didn’t see any profit in the knowledge. War and Empire are the stuff of capitalists, not knowledge for its own sake. Do you think lack of investment still holds back human mind?
If we had understood what was being said to us by the Greeks, we would have had that colony in 92, not 1992.
I’m still waiting for those flying cars like the Jetson’s drove. It’s encouraging that each generation continues to be optimistic for the future even if reality and money get in the way.
There is a difference between optimism and hope. When all optimism is gone, hope is all that remains:)
I’m still waiting for those flying cars like the Jetson’s drove. It’s encouraging that each generation continues to be optimistic for the future even if reality and money get in the way.
There is a difference between optimism and hope. When all optimism is gone, hope is all that remains:)