In estimated 300,000+ years of existence on the planet, humans have made progress leaps and bounds. Any problem that humans have faced, they have used their evolved brain to solve them. Think of it -
Ancestors were threatened by carnivorous animals but humans now sit safely in our concrete homes, sometimes so far above the ground that they don't come to ground for days. Animals are today threatened by us instead.
Risking their lives in the jungles in search of food before, humans today order food on phone and it get's delivered to their doorstep in perfect sized portions and nicely shaped plastic containers with napkins to clean their fingers while they are still sitting on the sofa.
Messengers used to carry messages hundreds of kilometres on foot or horses in months. Messenger is now an instant messaging app to reach our friends and families in any corner of the world in real time. Even with your sister in the next room.
Climate and weather used to be an enemy for human survival. Today we control the temperature and humidity of the room with a remote control. We holiday in freezing temperatures with leather skin jackets and scorching deserts in AC cooled desert safaris.
All done and dusted, solved forever. As long as you can earn some money, you don't think about these petty problems of home, food, clothing and communication. Roti, kapda, makaan, as they say in India, is taken care of!
It's difficult to pin point, when this search of solutions to human problems became a race to become Gods. But without a doubt, today, the elusive gift of Ego which only humans have has created dreams which most of us might still find difficult to fathom real.
Yuval Noah Harari, the master historian of our times, calls this future Homo sapien as Homo deus i.e. human in the race to become God. The rare book lovers must read his books - classics and essentials of our generation.
Next Up...
In the journey to becoming Homo deus, there are three unsolved problems that Homo sapien is running after solving - Immortality, Interplanetary Travel, Happiness.
Immortality: Just as mythology has carried for generations, Homo sapnien wants to achieve immortality. Looks like a tall unrealistic challenge but let me hit you up with an update. Google Calico, a Google owned start up and some other scientists are already working on a gene therapy to stop aging. If you didn't grasp what it means, in simple words, they are inventing a button to switch Immortality on and off. In a few decades, you will have the remote to control your age. Keep watching!
In fact, it seems a jelly fish might have beaten Homo sapien in this race already. Turritopsis dohrnii, a species of jelly fish, size of your finger nail, already possesses immortality. Interestingly, this fish when it gets physically hurt or old can turn around the clock, become a larva and start growing and living again!
Score Update: Humans 0 - 1 Jelly Fish.
Interplanetary Travel: This is no secret. The famous techno-sensation Elon Musk has made his ambitions known. He wants nothing less than humans living on Mars. He is already testing his space ship - "Starship" - a mammoth 387 feet long rocket ship which can carry 100 tonnes of pay load and 100 people to Mars. Biggest rocket ever built. Have a look at it.
His plan is to make approximately 1000 Starships and launch 3 of them every day to Mars. He wants to set up a city with 1 million population on Mars by 2050. You coming with us?
Happiness: Well, I don't know about that. It's a great dream but the least worked on. Looks almost unsolvable today. With all the big scientific achievements and progress made in every walk of life, it seems Happiness has instead taken a toll. Wars, terrorism, political animosity, discrimination, corruption, scams seem to be laying heavy on Homo sapien. Immortality and a city on Mars hardly seem to promise happiness after all. What do you think? Will Homo sapien be able to find Happiness and make it available for everyone?
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In the bonus video today, since science till now seems to have failed miserably in it's Pursuit of Happiness, let's watch a small clip from a Coca Cola advertisement that might put a smile on your face. Keep smiling and make good choices. 😊