A RIDE TO THE EDGE OF POSSIBILITIES

Not long ago, riding an old train through the jungles of Borneo, a family member was reminded of reading the arduous journey of earlier adventurers through those very woods. The dangers involved, and the success rate of finishing the trip unscathed. Yet today, even the relative comfort of watching the world pass by, through the windows of a railway car, seem demanding. We have come a long way in the past two hundred years of human history, and moving ever faster into the future. 
 
I was glued to the round black and white TV screen in the 1960s when Allen Shepard - in a space suit - blasted off into his 5-minutes trip to space on a Redstone rocket. That trip took years of training and preparation by Shepard, and millions of dollars of the national budget. Last week Shepard's daughter; Laura Shepard Churchley made the same trip with five others with literally no training and minimal preparation - in the airline type cabin of the Blue Origin. 
 
In medicine, too, our advances have been phenomenal. When Dr. Salk developed the polio vaccine, it took him more than ten years of research and development. In contrast, the first vaccine for Covid-19 was ready to use in about a year. Such advances and progress are confusing to many and is used to create political havoc among the people. Unfortunately, the same method of sharing information on the Internet is employed to spread misinformation. The beginnings of most changes are confusing and challenging to mankind, but it will clarify itself in time and what comes of it, is usually lasting. We are at the edge of magnificent changes and revolutions. The next century will propel mankind into a future unimaginable by many. Whether it will be toward a true utopia of possibilities or the chaos of dystopian nightmares is up to us. Guiding civilization in the right path is a task, all mankind needs to undertake now. We can start by basing our own education on scientific facts and protect the resources of our world as we move forward.