I am just short of sixty years of age. I am old enough to forget how old I am and in the words of one of my nieces, old enough to know better when I do something shockingly stupid. In my half century and a little bit more, I have seen great change. Some of these changes have been of benefit to society and some have not.
I have seen great strides made in scientific discovery and medicine. I have seen the disaster that is our plastic use and pollution, grow to such an enormity that we face the extinction of our own species. Truly the influence of humanity upon our planet, has gone beyond the bounds of our insignificant existence as a species.
I am not old enough to remember the first tentative explorations of space but I am old enough to remember the first moon landing in 1969. This being a subject I have addressed in a previous blog post (link below). That being ‘Mankind’s Great Achievement’ remains as the highpoint of our technological development, coupled then with humanity’s innate curiosity. There is perhaps no other single happening of the twentieth century, outside of the two World Wars; that so defines that one truly remarkable century.
What will be the defining mark of the twenty-first century? We are after all still only within the first quarter. COVID-19 may not be the enduring memory of civilisation in the next century, anymore than the Kansas (Spanish) Influenza epidemic of 1918 is in the twenty-first. We cannot predict the future with any certainty, we can only extrapolate from existing data to provide a potentiality. Pollution, climate change, over population and the scarcity of natural resources, all cast a dark shadow upon the future of mankind. What are our hopes, what are the positives, what light in the encroaching darkness can we hope for?
The positives I see come in the shape of medical advancement. The growing number of treatments and investigative procedures, have not only extended our lives beyond their natural limit but have in part, increased the quality of our existence. There are many alive today, enjoying a normal and fruitful life; thanks only to improved hygiene, improved sanitation and advances in medicine. Organ transplantation has become an almost common occurrence, since that first human heart transplant in 1967 and patients now live for many years after the procedure.
Many are of course still suffering, many are still ill and many do die of disease even today. Yet thanks to treatments and preventative vaccines, illnesses that would have been fatal when I was born; are now humanity’s painful memory. They have been consigned to the history books but they should not be forgotten. This is perhaps one reason why I find the scepticism shown towards modern treatments such as vaccines incomprehensible, coupled naturally with my education as a nurse. Polio is a thing of the past, we have a vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella that has reduced child mortality. The continuing development of new vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 will save many lives.
Today we watch private individuals travel into space and return in a reusable spacecraft. I wonder how many people, younger than I, truly understand the importance of this technological development? When the space shuttle was first flown it was a ground breaking phenomenon, as previously all craft sent into space were disposable. A reusable craft reduced cost, conserved resources and added to the efficiency of each mission.
Today watching Space-X take off and land, is like my childhood memories of science fiction. The concepts behind Captain Scarlet, the Thunderbirds, UFO and Space 1999 are no longer fantasy. Indeed watching Space-X boosters land in near perfect unison, is reminiscent of those very same programmes. Fantasy has not simply become reality, rather ideas that we had never seriously considered are now our new reality. Watching these real life space craft is like watching science fiction, they are so amazing that it is difficult to accept them as a reality. They are not dreams come true because for most of us, we never dreamt this was ever a possibility.
What of the future? If we can avoid the disasters of pollution, mitigate climate change and over population, what can we hope for? I hope that the deaf and the blind, will one day be able to see and hear. It will not be in my lifetime but I hope that electronic implants will become as common as a hip transplant is today. I hope that amputees will one day receive a functioning mechanical prosthesis, in line with that other television programme of my childhood; the Six Billion Dollar man.
It is my hope that the combined energies of humanity will mitigate the disasters that face us, prevent the extinction of species and our own. It is my hope that mankind has a bright future, harnessing technology for the benefit of the entire planet. In the words of Dante Alighieri ‘and so we came forth and once again beheld the stars.’ That mankind by which I mean our collective humanity, will once again look upon those stars; that is my hope.
Mankind’s Great Achievement
TOXIC INTERNET: SOCIAL MEDIA & THE SEEDS OF DIVISION
The Toxic Internet & Intolerance
The Toxic Internet & Tall Poppy Syndrome
The Toxic Internet & Misinformation
Quote from ‘letter 213’ – J.R.R. Tolkien to Deborah Webster (October 1958).
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
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