How will history remember the past two decades? Will they characterize us “technological innovators?”
What have we invented? Plumbing? Electricity? The internet?
No. None of those. Those are all the works of previous generations.
Perhaps we are the great optimizers. The great platform builders. The great alchemists…combining previous society’s inventions and squeezing the “last juices out of our models.”
Do not get me wrong…we have seen tremendous growth. We have created literally billions of new jobs. We have decreased poverty. We have pretty much raised society on every level.
But what is next?
What are going to lean-into?
What will we be remembered for?
Do you know much about the year 1400? Off the top of my head, I do not. Columbus?
We do not remember the “high speed companies” of their time. We do not know the mayors or rulers of every land. We do not remember the gossip or controversy.
Is that what happens to history? It just gets washed away with TIME – the great equalizer. Is that how it should be? Every new generation gets to decide what is important…should not be bound by previous thoughts, norms, and contexts.
I wonder…do we want to be remembered? If so, for what?
For ruining the planet? Is that our final chapter, our last page?
Or is there something more? Something waiting to be born?
Are we just going to die with democracy…or will we invent something new?
Are we going to unlock immortality? Time travel? Where is the fun? The optimism?
The plumbing! The horseless carriages! The humanless cars!
Also published on Medium.