Vision

Saturday, February 20, 2021 (30 days before First Day of Spring)

Yesterday, I visualized with friends what our world might be like following this pandemic. So many questions, like will we return to understood workplaces and do our work as before? I’m less ambivalent after experiencing this week’s Mars landing. It suggests a huge extent to which technology is poised to change our lives.

The Mars landing is mind-staggering. It seems inconceivable that long-working teams did figure a path to the landing. They controlled the landed Rover’s self-recharging and initial samples collecting, and remotely will direct and monitor the machine’s ongoing activities and behaviors. It took years of planning and years of flight for the Rover to arrive on Mars, and years will pass before its samples return to earth.

It’s not new that we’re aware of fantastic technologies related to space activities. But it’s been a long while since America successfully launched an incredibly complex mission. It has huge power because of getting there, as we’re still cocooning, semi-hibernating, self-isolating, and eager for a sense outside ourselves, beyond our enclosures. The Mars landing is a mind grabber.

It suggests a future of higher technology. Manufacturing designs and production processes will be managed and finalized by computers. Assembling will become more highly robotic with fewer working opportunities for non-college educated job seekers. Many humans dislike being in school, don’t do well in classrooms, have trouble teaming successfully with others to plan and design projects. In a highly automated environment, where will the employment opportunities be?

For over seventy years, the fast food industry has provided employment for drop-outs from schools. There will be increasing automation in that industry, which will reduce employee numbers. Besides, after our long months of mask-wearing and hand-washing, foods are less appealing for being handled by many humans through various preparation stages. More attractive are the meals prepackaged by automation and waiting on store shelves.

If we experience the Mars landing as increasing our awareness of next steps, it’s thinking about technology with a world of possibilities. Most of us are way behind those who are pioneering in space travel, like Richard Branson and Elon Musk, both working to change how we live.

Dear Friends: It’s timely and appropriate to uncloud our vision, and redirect it to a newer world. Diana