The Gloom Barrier

I have to admit life is making me Gloomy.

I am an Optimist by nature, but there seems to be a great weight on humanity.

Personally, I do not understand it. There is so much to be positive about but it seems that folks simply want to ignore every damn reason to get up in the morning.

In my youth, I was extremely positive about Science. Now I am not so sure.

Science seems to have turned into some kind of weird Religion. People just don’t seem to want to find anything new. They want to Genuflect and pay Homage to the Known while running away from the Unknown.

This is way wrong.

Take Physics, my own subject. Folks are obsessed with the crazy notion that it is nearly done. There is this crazy attitude that we are close to the end of human inquiry. I don’t believe a word of it. Not only is this foolish, it is destructive of Human Purpose.

When I look at the state of the present Quantum Theory it is Abundantly Clear that we are Nowhere Near the end of even the Beginning. The present theory is so shot through with holes and inconsistencies that it is Ludicrous to suppose that it will survive in its present form. However, we have legions upon legions of Professional Physicists dutifully pushing their pencils in the vain hope that a lick of paint will fix things.

I suspect that this situation is a calm before the storm. An Hiatus that allows the present generation to depart the field with some grace and dignity. What comes next is unknown but I have a hunch that it will involve Progress.

I will conclude with one simple thought.

If everyone believes that something is Impossible then for all practical purposes It Is.

However, in this world you only need One Person of Conviction and Purpose and the Impossible is Fritzed.

Back on 14th October 1947 there is one man we could all learn from.

The legendary Test Pilot and WWII Fighter Ace Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 clean through the Sound Barrier and out the other side into a whole New Ballgame.

He blitzed that Shock Wave as clean and calm as your Granny doing Crochet.

Of course, the engineers built the aeroplane but it was man in the Hot Seat that pushed the limit. This was no small thing, since the aerodynamics of transonic flight were then poorly understood. Chuck put paid to that limit. He buried that word Impossible.

It took a man with guts, determination and the finest touch to shatter that Sound Barrier.

Today we face a different challenge. It is less the metal and more the mind.

Yeager risked his life and took us all forward to a new place of knowledge.

Our problem today is far simpler.

Ground down by the modern system who can find a single man who will risk his mind on a new thought. That is the travesty of modern life.

We have so much we can accomplish but society is jammed up tight against the Gloom Barrier. People are so miserable they won’t try a damn thing. Corporations just want to pile up cash and politicians prefer to bicker and joust than action plans to move us forward.

The biggest problem for our future is to believe in our own future.

We need to shatter that Gloom Barrier.

General Chuck E. Yeager never believed in the word Impossible.

Neither should you.