Pro Liberi

Many many moons ago back in the mid 70′s there was a Sc-Fi series called ‘Space 1999‘, in it a nuclear accident send the moon wandering through space endlessly looking for a new home and finding strange alien life and adventures.   Having grown up a bit and thinking through the science made my transition from believing Sci-Fi to seeing it as entertainment.

So when I read this article about moving the Earth to save it from burning up in the later stages of our sun’s life I was a bit surprised that this was actually a serious scientific article.   It had facts and everything which involved moving the Earth a little bit to keep the sun’s output on the Earth constant so we didn’t burn up.   It looks feasible but very dangerous and there is much that is uncertain but if we put our minds to it we could reduce the risks and clear up the uncertainties.   Although for what purpose I am unclear.   It seems that gaining another 200,000 years is the end point.    Too little too late.

Realistically though when it comes down to it there is only one real option available for moving the Earth and that is to stick a very big engine on it with some sort of stasis field to hold it together.  As you can tell I don’t see this happening for a while and luckily the sun isn’t due to heat up so much for another few billion years.    Long enough to develop such technology.

We could then move the Earth from this solar system and place it in the sweet spot around a younger star.    Much more than 200,000 years available there although I suspect that when we get to that time, if we are still alive, we will have outgrown this planet and have left it a long time ago.

Maybe we will preserve it as a zoo and museum piece for sentimental reasons.   Our home planet Earth.

Nature or nurture the age old question.

Personally, I don’t think there is any question at all. It’s clearly nurture.

I think at birth we are all a rough hewn piece of wood like a log. Within that wood is the potential for many things but it also has some structure inside. This structure is genetic. As time goes on many things take chunks out of the wood. A bad experience in the water, a good experience on holiday, a death, a good teacher, a bad teacher, other good and bad influences in our lives, all these and more make changes to the basic wood and each make their impact on that persons personality. Good or bad, sometimes a bit of both. Sometimes the structure in the wood changes the cut that an individual is making and unintentional changes are made. The structure makes some people just unable to handle numbers, have word salad, vivid imaginations, short tempers, weak muscles, etc. There are many different structures in the wood and very little you can do to modify them although these structures can actually work out to be positive if the rest of the wood is cut well. As an example a structured mind can be a benefit to a Sherlock Holmes or a Moriarty. A steady hand to an assassin or a surgeon.  Same skill but different morals and intentions.

I believe that most of us do not realise our potentials because we have the wrong teachers, parents or environment to bring out the best from us. Imagine if Michelangelo had not been given the opportunity to practise painting. We may never have heard of him. What about if Gordo had been educated by a decent maths teacher and had a father figure who had a bit of joy in him. It’s unfortunate but its life and all of us have unrealised potential because of our upbringing and circumstances.

Now regarding the statement I made in an earlier post that killers are born not made. We all have a bit of killer in us. It’s part of our sense of survival. However most of us never have to use it. Again imagine Michelangelo not painting. An unrealised potential. Then when a situation arises a person can quickly discover they can kill and they are good at it. Training can also bring out the potential but like everything else if there is no latent skill then there is no potential to unleash.

Everyone has potential. Everyone has capabilities just waiting to be discovered. That is what makes the screwup with education in our countries so sad. How many Michelangelo’s have passed through a pretty uneventful life because they didn’t have the chance to practise art? How many potential Einsteins, Newtons, Franklins, Dickens, Adam Smiths, Tom Paines, etc. etc. have we lost because of our Disney education systems?

On the plus side. How many Dahmers, Mansons, Gordos, Mansons, etc. have been averted by the right people giving them guidance and leading them down different paths?

We all have the potential in each of us to change the world. Let’s not waste it.