People sometimes ask, "if they can put a man on the moon, why can't they (Insert complaint here)." I've never done this though. For one thing, the moon landings were all before I was born, and of course, anything that happens before you're birth seems like it's always been there. Of course we put a man on the moon, we've always been able to put a man on the moon.
But there's also the fact that it doesn't really feel like a technical achievement any more. Looking back at it from my perspective: the moon program was a huge accomplishment at the time, and was a result of making full use of our intellectual capacity, thanks to an alignment of political motives. Since then, we've had the ability to go to the moon, but haven't because of a lack of political necessity and cooperation. So from my perspective, the moon landing is a testament not to human technology and ingenuity, but to the fickleness of human motivation.
You know what has always stood as the they-can-do-this-so-why-can't-they-do-that example for me? Cookie Dough Ice Cream. That's always seemed to be the silliest, most childish achievement I've seen in my life. But in our society, the taste whims of middle class North Americans create huge motivations for invention, while the lives of many others offer little to no incentive. Heck, even other North American consumers don't rate high enough to get their own products. I'm still waiting for smaller, "single guy" packages of food that I can get through before it spoils.
It's that motivation that is the real driver behind change in our society. The lack of technological change no longer surprises me; I'm only disappointed if there is an innovation that would please large numbers of desirable consumers. So tonight, when I asked myself, why can't they invent a crouton that you can poke with a fork without breaking it, my mind when to Cookie Dough Ice Cream, not a man on the moon.
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