February 10, 2012

Why a Man on Mars is NOT our Next Great Achievement

I keep hearing it from politicians and political observers alike.

"We need a Kennedy moment. A new grandiose claim. A leader able to  dream big and pave the way for us to get there."

Charles Lindbergh's solo flight across the Atlantic was a collective wow moment for America in 1927. Apollo 11's moon landing was even bigger.

And since then we've been looking for another. A new exploration out into the wild black night. After all, we haven't had one since 1969?

But, that's because we've been going the other way. We've been going smaller. We've been ignoring the macro for the micro. Understanding cell theory. Molecular complexity. Nanotechnology. Artificial intelligence.

The stuff people are doing today is moon landing stuff.

It just doesn't offer the same visual. But, it's arguably much more important.
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