Strange new worlds

Jeffrey's report this afternoon on alternative visions of the future, and our ensuing discussion of optimism and pessimism, reminds me of my own youthful vision of an enlightened and liberated future.

Back when Gene Roddenberry's original "Wagon Train to the Stars" still rolled, and Neil Armstrong had yet to take his "one small step", I was one of the hordes of ten-year old optimists itching to "boldly go" into a gleaming new world of long life and prosperity, diversity, and interstellar amity. I fully embraced Spock's Vulcan philosophy of IDIC ("infinite diversity from infinite combination"), and couldn't wait to get out there.

I miss that kid, and that show. Trek really was "the last pop-culture show that believed, beyond any doubt, that human beings were good and that, liberated by infinite technological progress, we would encounter an infinitely wonderful universe."

I'd already been thinking of those days, this past weekend, when word came of Leonard Nimoy's passing. Did you see his last tweet?

Leonard Nimoy @TheRealNimoy · Feb 23

life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP

Mark Twain was right: there's nothing sadder than a young pessimist.

Why ST Matters... Half-full... My "This I Believe" essay (2009)