What Landing On Mars Again Can Teach Us, Again

from the humanity-pep-talk dept

It seems I'm always writing about Section 230 or copyright or some sort of regulatory effort driven by antipathy toward technology. But one of my favorite posts I've ever written here is this one, "We Interrupt All The Hating On Technology To Remind Everyone We Just Landed On Mars." Given that we just landed on Mars again it seems a good time to revisit it, because it seems no less important today than it was in 2018 when I originally wrote it. Just as it seems no less important that we just landed on Mars again. In fact, it all may matter even more now.

Today we find ourselves even more mired in a world full of technological nihilism. It has become a well-honed reflex: if it involves technology, it must be bad. And in the wake of this prevailing distrust we've developed a political culture that is, at best, indifferent to innovation if not often downright eager to stamp it out.

It's a poisonous attitude that threatens to trap us in our currently imperfect world, with no way to solve our way out of our problems. But recognizing what an amazing achievement it was to successfully land on Mars can work as an antidote, in at least two important ways:

First, it can remind us of what wonder feels like. To dream the most fantastic dreams, and then to go make those dreams happen. Mankind hasn't gazed at the stars in ambivalence; the heavens have been one of our greatest sources of inspiration throughout the ages. That we have now managed, for the first time in the history of human civilization, to put another planet within our grasp should not extinguish that wonder, with a glib "been there, done that" shrug. Rather, it is a cause for enormous celebration and should do nothing but inspire us to keep dreaming, next time even bigger.

Because if there's one thing this landing teaches us, apart from the tangible fruits of our exploration, it is to believe in ourselves. Our failures and disappointments here on Earth are serious indeed. But what this success demonstrates is that we can overcome what was once thought impossible. It may take diligence, hard work, and faithful adherence to science. And our human imperfections can sometimes make it hard to manage these things.

But landing on Mars reminds us that we can and provides us with an amazing example of how.

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Filed Under: innovation, landing, mars, technology