From an airplane yesterday, I marveled at the modern world that we live in. The Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk in December of 1903. The first commercial flight was only 11 years later on January 1, 1914, which was 107 years ago. Since then aircraft circle the globe on regular schedules every day.
I was struck by the majesty contained in the principles of flight as the plane lifted off the ground Saturday morning. It isn’t a subject I know much about all, so I won’t try to pontificate. But it amazes me that a huge aircraft, full of people and luggage, can get off the ground, much less soar for hundreds of miles (in our case).
Humanity has dreamed of flying since before the legend of Icarus. Fortunately our metal wings didn’t melt as we approached the sun yesterday. But I did text a friend and stream a movie and play a game of Scrabble all from the comfort of my own seat 30,000 feet in the air. The thing about our modern technologically set world is that we often take for granted all the wonders that we enjoy.
Take the covid-19 vaccine, for example (and you really should take yours). It is a wonder of modern science that we can engineer a serum (which is probably the wrong word – I know less about microbiology than I do flight) that is able to protect people from a deadly virus. I don’t know how many people aboard the flight yesterday were vaccinated, but every one wore a mask, so there was some barrier against the continued spread of the disease. But I and my wife are fully vaccinated, and I was as glad for that shield as I was about the forces that kept my plane from plunging into the ground. Both protected me from death, and both are grounded in the same thing: science.
As I type on a keyboard connected to a tablet by wireless means, and then in a few minutes I will transmit my thoughts to a world that can read them, again, mostly without wires, I am impressed. Electrons, energy fields, vaccines, flight: all to a pre-modern person would seem as so much magic, but we can understand them relatively easily. Schools exist to teach science so future generations can create even more incredible technology for our entertainment, travel, and personal safety. In less than 200 years, we have flow an aircraft across a beach and a small helicopter across the surface of Mars. We have eradicated many illnesses with a simple shot. We can watch Shrek on an iPad from 30,000 feet.
Mind. Blown.
I actually meant to write this from my airplane seat, but the mundanity of the modern world prevented me. I was a little tired, the plane engines were loud and distracting, and I mostly relaxed by listening to music. But even doing that much is still amazing. I think many things have prevented people from feeling safe about the certainty that is the covid-19 vaccine. I am sure in 1914 that many people were reluctant to board an airplane as well. Music lovers sitting in concert halls listening to live music in the before times were unable to imagine listening to recorded music, much less on devices such as iPads and Bluetooth headphones. But humanity progresses. Without that, we would die of stagnation.
Think about that next time you fire up some music, go out in public without worrying about smallpox, or board an aircraft for your next vacation. Science has built the world we live in, and will build the future. And it is fantastic. I grew up without polio, the internet, or self-driving cars. I wonder what will happen next!
a simple man 