-By Jaime Willis
Regular blog readers already know that I am a "glass is half-full" kind of gal, so my excitement about living in the 21st century shouldn't really surprise anyone. But I thought I'd take today's post to share a little bit more about why I have the world view I do.
When you watch the news today, you get barraged with bad, bad, and worse. There's global warming, wars, famines, droughts, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, obesity on the rise, a financial meltdown, political scandals, murders, deaths of innocents, and the list goes on. This firehose of information makes it difficult for us to get perspective, so it is no wonder that people are feeling distraught and stuck in energy levels one and two. But, this is how I see the universe:
Access to Information & Communication is Better
Think about that for a minute. So many people think that things are getting worse and worse, but who would volunteer to go back in time permanently? When I was in high school -- not even TWENTY years ago, there was no internet. No cell phones. No "smart" this or iThat. We have access to more people and information than we ever have before just in those two technologies. How COOL is that?
Physical Health is Better
Vaccines -- the common set of shots we all got as children growing up have only been around for 100 years. Smallpox - a horrific disease with a mortality rate of 30-35% was completely eradicated in 1979 as a result of worldwide vaccination campaigns. An entire disease wiped out by advancing technology. How COOL is that?
Physical Safety is Better
Humans have died in so many preventable ways in the past. Airbags were invented in 1952 and became commonplace in cars in the 1990s, saving thousands of lives. Crime, although reported more often and to a wider audience, is down -- In 1980, there were 10 homicides for every 100,000 people in the United States. Since the year 2000, the number has held steady at about 5 per 100,000, the same rate as the amount of violent crime in the 1960's -- 50+ years ago.
And that is just how things are better than in the past. When I begin to think of all the potential we have as a human race, I get downright giddy. If living in the PRESENT is the best it's ever been, can you imagine how much more awesome the world is going to be TOMORROW??
Things I am totally looking forward to & think will be figured out in my lifetime (remember I'm living to be 112):
Flying Cars
I don't even know that flying cars are ultimately a practical future invention. In terms of stellar, next-gen transportation, I think the driverless car and high-speed rail are probably the true waves of the future. But flying cars are awesome to think about, and I think they'll be a hobbyist sport in the future. It's already pretty excellent that I can get from my house to my hometown (600 miles) in under 2 hours today, across the country in 5 hours, and on another continent in under 10 hours. When technology gets to the point where meeting my family in Michigan for dinner is a 30 minute trip -- that is going to be awesome!
Eradication of Diseases
RNA viruses will go the way of the dodo when we can figure out how to combat diseases that mutate at every duplication. All of the vaccines we currently use are for DNA viruses -- viruses that have a stable genetic makeup across the population, like smallpox, and can be eradicated with one (or a series of) vaccine(s). RNA viruses, like influenza, the common cold, chicken pox, hepatitis, and HIV are less controlled in our population because there is no "one size fits all" vaccine. But on my recent trip to Albuquerque, we learned that Los Alamos National Laboratory is working on ways to disable RNA viruses with unique "mosaic" vaccines. Can you imagine how cool the world will be if no one is getting the sniffles or is bogged down for a week with the flu every year? AWESOME. Even awesomer? The millions of people whose lives will be saved from the deadlier RNA viruses running rampant in the present.
A True Information Bubble
Although information now is vastly more accessible that it was twenty years ago (hello, remember Beepers?), we still have a ways to go. The fact that cell phone providers have to convince us that they can do their jobs (Can you hear me now?) is comical -- you don't see McDonalds or Burger King making sure the public knows that they cook food, do you? In the future, though, we are going to be living in a virtual cloud of information. One of my own personal fantasies is that I have a sphere of high-speed connectivity surrounding me like a force field everywhere I go (and for one low price). In the future, my dream will be a reality -- I'll be connected to all of my data (email, documents, music, photos & video), be able to call, text, and video chat with my friends, and look up and read just about anything I want from most anywhere in the world. That is going to be SWEET!
I could go on and on (and on), but I think I've made my point. We are living in a pretty awesome time in the universe, and I think it is only going to be more awesome. I cannot wait to be a part of each day of the future -- I am so excited to be alive in this time!
Next time you get bummed out by all the bad stuff that is going on in the world, remember that we have more resources, technology, information, and education than ever before to help solve those problems.
How cool is that?
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Regular blog readers already know that I am a "glass is half-full" kind of gal, so my excitement about living in the 21st century shouldn't really surprise anyone. But I thought I'd take today's post to share a little bit more about why I have the world view I do.
When you watch the news today, you get barraged with bad, bad, and worse. There's global warming, wars, famines, droughts, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns, hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, obesity on the rise, a financial meltdown, political scandals, murders, deaths of innocents, and the list goes on. This firehose of information makes it difficult for us to get perspective, so it is no wonder that people are feeling distraught and stuck in energy levels one and two. But, this is how I see the universe:
There has never been a better time to be alive than this very second.
Access to Information & Communication is Better
Think about that for a minute. So many people think that things are getting worse and worse, but who would volunteer to go back in time permanently? When I was in high school -- not even TWENTY years ago, there was no internet. No cell phones. No "smart" this or iThat. We have access to more people and information than we ever have before just in those two technologies. How COOL is that?
Physical Health is Better
Vaccines -- the common set of shots we all got as children growing up have only been around for 100 years. Smallpox - a horrific disease with a mortality rate of 30-35% was completely eradicated in 1979 as a result of worldwide vaccination campaigns. An entire disease wiped out by advancing technology. How COOL is that?
Physical Safety is Better
Humans have died in so many preventable ways in the past. Airbags were invented in 1952 and became commonplace in cars in the 1990s, saving thousands of lives. Crime, although reported more often and to a wider audience, is down -- In 1980, there were 10 homicides for every 100,000 people in the United States. Since the year 2000, the number has held steady at about 5 per 100,000, the same rate as the amount of violent crime in the 1960's -- 50+ years ago.
And that is just how things are better than in the past. When I begin to think of all the potential we have as a human race, I get downright giddy. If living in the PRESENT is the best it's ever been, can you imagine how much more awesome the world is going to be TOMORROW??
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| Made by me with the Karolina Games Horatio Meme Generator. Try your own here. |
Things I am totally looking forward to & think will be figured out in my lifetime (remember I'm living to be 112):
Flying Cars
 |
| Where we're going, we don't need roads. |
Eradication of Diseases
RNA viruses will go the way of the dodo when we can figure out how to combat diseases that mutate at every duplication. All of the vaccines we currently use are for DNA viruses -- viruses that have a stable genetic makeup across the population, like smallpox, and can be eradicated with one (or a series of) vaccine(s). RNA viruses, like influenza, the common cold, chicken pox, hepatitis, and HIV are less controlled in our population because there is no "one size fits all" vaccine. But on my recent trip to Albuquerque, we learned that Los Alamos National Laboratory is working on ways to disable RNA viruses with unique "mosaic" vaccines. Can you imagine how cool the world will be if no one is getting the sniffles or is bogged down for a week with the flu every year? AWESOME. Even awesomer? The millions of people whose lives will be saved from the deadlier RNA viruses running rampant in the present.
A True Information Bubble
 |
| In the future, I have a force- field of internet connectivity and I only wear awesome superhero clothes. |
I could go on and on (and on), but I think I've made my point. We are living in a pretty awesome time in the universe, and I think it is only going to be more awesome. I cannot wait to be a part of each day of the future -- I am so excited to be alive in this time!
Next time you get bummed out by all the bad stuff that is going on in the world, remember that we have more resources, technology, information, and education than ever before to help solve those problems.
How cool is that?
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