Why bother traveling to space

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"The probability of success is difficult to estimate. But if we never search, the chance of success is zero."
-Giuseppe Cocconi

NASA's 2015 budget was $17.5 billion. That's enough money to buy 29 trillion pounds of bananas. And that's not even at Costco prices.

I don't know why I made a comparison to bananas, but that's a lot of money.

That much money can be used to feed America's hungry (with or without bananas). It can house millions of people. It can be invested in schools. It can almost buy me that new iPhone X.

So we're at an ethical conundrum. On one hand, space is cool, and getting a man on the moon was an ontological accomplishment. On the other, there are 45 million Americans living below the poverty line. But on the other hand, who can put a value on the classic Neil Armstrong line, "To Infinity, and Beyond!"

Or was that someone else?

Here is why space exploration is important (in addition to the medical and technological advances NASA has pioneered). It's the same reason that art is important. Or kindness. Or philosophy.

We are creatures of metaphor, stuck in a practical world. The ideas - the symbols - of curiosity, exploration, and wonderment are what make life fun and diverse. Knowing that there are things left unknown is a unique feature in our wonderful world, and I would defend that principle, the very one supported by a proposition like space exploration, to the end.

That said, I acknowledge that I can afford the privilege of a few metaphors. I live in a happy home and have lots of bananas to eat.

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A Treatise on Political Correctness

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"I am absolutely opposed to political correctness. You cannot confront hate speech until you've experienced it. You need to hear every side of the issue instead of just one."
-Jane Elliott

Political correctness is this funny thing that I don’t really understand.

You see, I was raised in a Russian-Jewish home. And in such a home, the Dr. Seussian (PhD?) parable of ‘say what you mean and mean what you say’ lives on the far end of that spectrum in which any remark - no matter how caustic, derogatory, or crude - is permissible.

Permissable, but simultaneously debatable. Say what you will, but you better be ready to back it up. Arguments may start half-baked and crude, but it is your job to...

a) dig deep to understand the reason behind what you say and
b) LISTEN to what the other argument is. Especially if you disagree with it.

It is thing b that is missing from most conversations these days. People seem to dismiss labels, not arguments. We blanket groups by demographic, not by opinion. And, worst of all, we judge as soon as we think we know what someone will say, without waiting for them to say it.

Republicans are insensitive. Democrats are naive. This race is deserving. That race is opportunistic. Tall people deserve higher salaries. Short people got little hands, and little eyes, and they walk around, tellin' great big lies...

The most dangerous aspect is that most of our friends agree with us. So if we make an argument and are judged before we are really heard, we will be judged well and agreed with. Contradictions are dangerous and undesired, so they are rarely offered.

Learning only happens under pressure, but echoes can exist in a cave. So find some pressure.

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Why read fiction

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"And for god’s sake, don’t let me ever hear you say, ‘I can’t read fiction. I only have time for the truth.’ Fiction is the truth, fool! Ever hear of ‘literature’? That means fiction, too, stupid.” 
~ John Waters

Disclaimer #1: I disagree with the first 3 paragraphs of what I'm about to say.

Fiction is sort of a stupid genre. It's like romcom movies or pasta bolognese. 0 long-term benefits, 100% pure in-the-moment bliss.

Biographies (unlike fiction) can teach us about the lives and decisions of people we admire. Documentaries (unlike romcoms) can educate us about Planet Earth or how the moon landing never happened. And Popeye says to each more spinach (not bolognese).

But fiction? What could that provide an intelligent, ambitious, reflective individual? What can it teach, or improve, or add to the life or mind of someone as aristocratic and high brow as you or me?

The answer: everything. 

Fiction contains within it the pathos of human experience, the logos of our greatest thinkers, and the ethos of societal structures.

And in case you didn't pay attention in 11th grade English, I meant to say that fiction teaches readers to understand human emotions. Each novel is a biography of a dozen great people- the author amongst them. And fiction can guide us to understand the depths of what society can be- at it's best and it's worst.

Go read Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera and tell me you didn't learn a bit more about the human proclivity for sex, jealousy, and obsession. Read McKellen's Atonement and tell me you didn't feel the might of ambition and regret. Read The Very Hungry Caterpillar and tell me it's not a book about stoicism and willpower.

Fiction is everything. It is imagination, and love, and heartache, and power, and questions, and even answers.

Disclaimer #2: This is just my attempt to make annually rereading Harry Potter acceptable...

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Education = Exploration

If you're looking for thoughtful meets goofy with a tech twist, sign up for my newsletter. Below is a taste of what you'll get. -- "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned at school" - Einstein When I was in 3rd grade, I was placed into the Discovery program. We had to pass a tough test to get in, and we got to miss a few hours of class a week. It was awesome. Mrs. G taught us to be curious. We built mousetrap racecars, solved puzzles, and opened up computers. It was my first interaction with the sort of creativity I admire in today's greatest entrepreneurial visionaries. In high school, proposed budget cuts would have removed the Discovery program. Over 100 Discovery alumni - most of us high school students bound for top universities - spoke up in protest. Anything that allows children an opportunity to explore, imagine, and be curious is a win for the world. So don't give your child an iPad and tell them to keep busy. Engage them with adventure, imagination, and beautiful games. Teach them to ask questions, and to Discover. But if they're being annoying, I guess you can just give them an iPad.

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Let's talk about gratitude

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'Enough' is a feast.
-Buddhist Proverb

What exactly are we grateful for? Sure, we have family, friends, health, and homes. But in our enlightened and privileged American world, those are commodities and perhaps deserve no more gratitude than water and soil.

"OMG I can’t believe you said that, you insensitive prick!"

Ah, but just like water and soil, all these things can be wiped away at any moment. One storm can leave us homeless, like we saw in Texas and Puerto Rico. One tragedy can take our families and friends, like we saw in Las Vegas.

These are horrible, freak accidents. But so unlikely to affect you, me, or Dupree, that its too easy to say that we’re grateful to be safe. We are grateful that a freak accident hasn’t happened to us? Important, sure. But a bit shallow.

Maybe we’re grateful that we were born with these things to begin with. Children have lost mothers at birth for centuries, but many of us still have ours. America provides unique opportunities that my parents’ home country of Russia- and many others around the world- don’t even consider a human right.

But these are coincidences. Are we grateful for dumb luck of the draw? Grateful that we happened to be born to our particular parents, or that they happened to work themselves into a middle-class income to supply the security of our childhoods? That seems too untouchable, too flimsy, and, again, too easy.

So what should we be grateful for? The tangible and specific, not the abstract.

Don’t just be grateful for your health- take a deep breath, and say thank you for that moment.

Don’t just be grateful for your family- hug your Mother, and thank the emotion of that moment.

Don’t just be grateful for your friends- take a mental image of a moment, a laugh, a hug that means more to you than luck or coincidence ever could.

So this Thanksgiving, of course I am grateful for my health, home, family, and friends. But even more so, I’m grateful for the fact that my mom still hugs me every day, that my bed is big enough to fit me and my puppy, that I’m free enough to laugh at rib-cracking moments with my best friends.

I'm even grateful that my grandmother is still sane enough to send me emails about “6 MUST SEE Moments on Ukraine’s Got Talent!” Or maybe she’s insane? It’s a fine line...

And I’m grateful for that time- that specific moment in time- when you and I shook hands, hugged, or shared something most recently.

Much love,

A

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We don't need no education

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"We thought that we had the answers, it was the questions we had wrong." - Bono

I want to have stronger opinions on education. But it's such a complex issue, that I'll leave you with a few important questions.

- Can higher education bring $50k/year of value to its customers (students)?

- Is learning elementary coding skills actually important? Or is it like learning basic French? Nice, but not enough to impact your career.

- As robots change our jobs and people need to work less, will education be about training students for a career? Or building well-rounded, interesting, curious people?

- If the best education is hands-on, should students be encouraged to take agap year between high school and college?

- How can technology create opportunities for people without a college degree?

- There are benefits to customized/personalized learning. But group learning/teamwork is just as effective and important. Where do these two meet?

Also, yeah. I quoted Bono earlier.

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You are what you listen to

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When radio came around, we were like:

"This is dumb. I can just listen to my friends."

When television came around, we were like:

"Cool, I get it. Now I don't have to talk to my family at dinner."

When the internet came around, we were like:

"Wouldn't it be great to build a website for EVERYTHING? Oh, and banner ads. Let's do those."

Media is powerful. We're slowly figuring it out. And what's next? Voice, baby. Voice.

Platforms enabling voice are bigger than radio on the internet (sorry Russ Hanneman). They're bigger than putting TV on your phone (watch out, Netflix).

The proliferation of voice is going to make humanity more effective. It saves time, it makes us smarter. It's complementary to the physical world, not a replacement for it.

If you want a preview of the future, 'listen up' (lol) and join the 67 million monthly podcast listeners. Or the predicted 138 million Alexa owners in 2020.

Or just remember the authority in your mom's voice, and appreciate how powerful of a communication channel that is.

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