We should be jetpacking at 200 yrs old.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the potential of the human mind. Some questions that I ask myself:
- What if people used their free time to think about the real un/solvable problems in the world? Instead of war and materialism, what solutions could we come up with that would benefit humankind if we put our collective minds to it?
- How many great minds do we lose because of war, poor conditions, neglect, or lack of identification? Throughout history, there are many notable geniuses that have contributed to the sciences and arts, but how many potential geniuses have we lost? When your main concern is taking care of your basic necessities, there is no time to think beyond oneself, and that is a shame.
- How many people are wasting their potential in fields that don’t make use of their talents? I often think about people this way. As a mental exercise, I think to myself, “What if somewhere in Shaq’s mind is the cure for cancer?” or, “Wouldn’t Einstein have made a good ad exec?”
- How soon will we have a Google chip implanted in our brains? Maybe not the brand, but at some point, we won’t have to hop on the net to lookup an answer. All the facts and information collected from human history could be called up from inside your head. People wouldn’t have to study history, they’d just need to know when their favorite movie is being shown next. The information I have is exactly the same as what you have. Facts are no longer questioned. An encyclopedia in your brain. The only pursuit of knowledge is of the unknown. Filling in the gaps of information. Tackling the bigger questions instead of arguing about who won the world series in 1954.
The end result of these thoughts always comes back to the question: Why are there no jetpacks yet? A meme, but valid nonetheless. In a world (1st World) where our basic needs are met, other thoughts have to fill in, lest we drive ourselves crazy. In early civilization, there were many questions that were left unanswered and unexplored. As time passed, and more and more mysteries of life were solved, humans had to refocus this extra brain power. Today, I think we live in a society where this excess is concentrated on the meaningless. Whether it be celebrity gossip, the almighty dollar, war, religion, politics, whatever. Some valid, some not. Society needs to return to the age of wonderment. When we looked at the world in amazement. When myths gave way to experimentation and science. We asked the big questions, which led to even bigger ones. In my lifetime, I want to be jetpacking at 200 years old.
