The End of History

In 2022 (where there were no flying cars), I had a few strokes. That experience dramatically changed my life and led me to learn a few lessons I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I spent a while in the hospital and was heavily drugged, such that I could not tell what was real.

For a while, I went out of my way to be extra-nice and apologize for people. Now, I’m essentially back to thinking humans, on average, are not super-bright. Most of them/us need to be told what to do.

Anyway, the reason I mention it is because I think a lot of people think we may be at the end of history. This is probably what I used to think, and living around the turn of the Caesarian millennium and the end of the Mayan calendar, there was a lot of appetite for the notion that This Is The End. However, you will notice the clock continues to tick.

And so, before I experienced a stroke, I wanted to have a lot of money, so I could feel satisfied with myself and “enjoy life.” However, now I feel like it’s very clear that life will continue on Earth with or without me, regardless. That leads me to think that what matters most is what we pass down to future generations. On one hand, I accept that if there’s no central “point” to life, you ought to prioritize your own happiness. However, if you want a reason, it’s not hard to see that we’ve benefitted in a myriad of ways because of prior generations. I’ll spare you the lecture and me the repetition, but it’s very clear to me now that this is not the end of history. I really wish I could have learned it another way, but as they say, “You can wish in one hand and shit in the other. See which one fills up first.”

This last year has made it quite clear to me that following the Covid pandemic, there’s a significant appetite to revisit many settled debates to “do things better.” However, I’m not sure that’s a sensible takeaway. It seems a lot like “throwing the baby out with the bath water.” Wheres I once assumed everyone would get smarter, I expect the revised plan is just to make tests easier. This can’t go on indefinitely……….right?