Scientific and industrial progress is an essential part of modern life. The opening of a new extremely long suspension bridge would be entirely unsurprising- If it was twice the length of the previous longest, I might bother to read a short article about it. I would assume there would be some local celebration (Though not too much- if it was too well received, why did we not do it before?), but it would not be a turning point in technology or a grand symbol of man’s triumph over nature. We’ve been building huge awe inspiring structures for quite some time by now, and the awe has worn off. Innovation and progress is normal.
Celebration in terms of “Bells are ringing and the people are weeping and philosophizing” requires complete upsets. Reusable rockets, manned missions to mars, a COVID-19 vaccine, etc- those are all part of the current state of affairs. If humanity wants these things, and has the time, I know they will come.
Scientific and industrial progress is an essential part of modern life. The opening of a new extremely long suspension bridge would be entirely unsurprising- If it was twice the length of the previous longest, I might bother to read a short article about it. I would assume there would be some local celebration (Though not too much- if it was too well received, why did we not do it before?), but it would not be a turning point in technology or a grand symbol of man’s triumph over nature. We’ve been building huge awe inspiring structures for quite some time by now, and the awe has worn off. Innovation and progress is normal.
Celebration in terms of “Bells are ringing and the people are weeping and philosophizing” requires complete upsets. Reusable rockets, manned missions to mars, a COVID-19 vaccine, etc- those are all part of the current state of affairs. If humanity wants these things, and has the time, I know they will come.