We should be jetpacking at 200 yrs old.
You bring up some good points. I’d like the opportunity to address them, if for amusement only.
I agree that intelligence comes with study, repetition, strict diligence, etc. If you work hard at anything, success is the natural outcome. In school, we are sponges, soaking up information that was previously unknown to us. Education has a place in everyone’s life from kings to paupers. There are some people in this day and age without access to even the simplest resources. They are reading educational material that was published 50 years ago. They aren’t given the same opportunity at success then a vast majority of the world. This is what is truly sad. In an era where I can look up any bit of information on the net, basic necessities and technologies are out of reach for others. When your mind is occupied with survival, the only repetition you may experience on a day-to-day basis is fetching drinkable water. That is a shame.
Regarding the Shaq example, it was indeed stated in jest. But as a mental exercise, it’s the idea of questioning, I feel, is not done enough. Questioning where the information comes from. Questioning the source. To most people, the idea of Shaq with a labcoat and microscope is preposterous, and even impossible. Why not? When we dismiss things as impossible, we shut off avenues of discovery. Although it isn’t a good analogy, the absurdity of it opens dialogue. (Not quite addressing your counterpoint, but indeed creating another point)
In our lives, there are always obstacles. We have obligations and responsibilities. It is unreasonable to devote time to save the world. “Before you save the world, you have to save yourself.” And I don’t think that dwelling inside every being on this planet is an Einstein, unleashed if they only thought about stuff. But to fill that time with consuming, celeb envy, conquest, etc is not productive to me.
I didn’t want to give the impression that there wasn’t any big questions still left unanswered either. I agree that the sciences hold many things yet to be discovered and unlocked. I had in mind the advances in the last century in America, and how they have brought us to today. A majority of our basic needs have been addressed. Food is available 24/7. We can travel most anywhere. Information is at our fingertips. The big questions need years of study, and I’m not sure anyone in a science field cares what a Tumblr has to say, much less the time to read it.
And that is the gist. Quite a few people I’ve met are intelligent and articulate. They have book knowledge, street knowledge, wisdom, experience, and enviable social skills. Many of them did not think past their immediate circle of influence. It could be their family and friends, their job and neighborhood, maybe even as far reaching as the state they live in. But more often than not, they didn’t think on a global scale. Ever. They fill their lives with trivial nonsense.
Will this solve the world’s problems? Probably not. But when we put down the remote, block out the internet, mute all the glamour noise, it’s a step in the right direction. So where’s my jetpack? Sorry. The inventor got killed in an armed conflict in Sierra Leone.
People aren’t born smart. They become smart by constantly striving to learn and being curious about the world. It maybe some may have easier time grasping certain concepts, but by no measure do those blessed ones spend less time than others or work less harder than others. If anything, they spend lots more and work crazy hard. Its like saying body builders are born strong. No! They work hard at it.
“What if somewhere in Shaq’s mind is the cure for cancer?”
Are you saying the cure for cancer, a feat that has escaped the foremost of doctors and researchers today after years of research, is just residing within Shaq’s or someone else’s mind? In that case lets break it open and find it. If Shaq wants to find the cure to cancer, let him quit basketball, get a M.D. and find it. I personally don’t buy the “people are wasting their potential in fields that don’t make use of their talents.” Einstein came up with his Theory of Relativity while working as a patent clerk, not to mention 5 of his most important papers were written during this time too. Craig Newmark started Craigslist while he was still working and it took him nearly 5 years before he could quit work and concentrate on it fully. If you are truly passionate about something, find the time to do it.
“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.”
Either you must have achieved a god like status where all of life’s mysteries seem evident to you or this is a joke. There are no mysteries left? I suggest picking up a high school physics book and within half an hour, I bet you’ll have at least 20 questions that no physicist can answer.
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 thinkl 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.
