The sun will rise
Many say the future is hopeless and bleak for this generation. What do you say? Do you agree that our generation doesn’t have much to look forward to?
How would our parents’ generation have responded to the above question? Would they have had some hope? Are we hopeless, or are we doubtful?
I’d say we’re doubtful, doubtful because we don’t know what to expect. Our generation has had the privilege and the disadvantage of having information at our fingertips. The thing with information is that we have control over how we present it. The presentation of that information, and the overrepresentation of bleak information, can make our doubt seem like hopelessness.
I’m just as worried about the future as the next person. Uncertainty is unsettling; figuring out how pieces of a puzzle fit together without knowing what the puzzle is or knowing what pieces you want to make fit is a challenge we’re all too familiar with. With the temperatures soaring, real estate booming, and job market evolving in an unknown direction, who knows what our future holds?
However, the future that our parents were doubtful about, maybe even hopeless about, brought them phones that connect them with their family and friends around the globe, medicine that prolongs the time they have to appreciate the wonders of the world…and so much more than you or I can count.
As a science enthusiast, I don’t deny the fact that the Earth is heating up at a rate faster than we imagined, to the point where we may not have much time left. I’m not disagreeing with the need to act quickly and responsibly to respond to the modern-day challenge of global warming. I’m not disagreeing with the fact that we must find the balance between consumerism and sustainability to save our environment.
What I am saying is that despite the threat of global warning, we will cope. Humans have always adapted to changes that were once unimaginable. We created vaccines to address disease epidemics like Smallpox that were killing more people than World War I,. I’m hopeful that we will discover creative solutions to yet another problem with the potential to kill millions, if not billions of people. At least now, in the digital age with internet and cellphones, we have the ability to truly come together, as citizens of the world, to do so.
It is questionable, though, whether our increased connectedness has been a blessing or a curse. Thanks to Amazon Prime, we can now have our needs and desires delivered to our doorstep. Thanks to globalization and open borders, we can now have free trade that allows us to taste locally unavailable delicacies, like mangoes from Mexico. Thanks to rapid technological advancements, we can now experience an alternate reality from the comfort of our beds.
Amidst the Earth heating rapidly, our technology and innovations are evolving speedily. However, how are we to remain hopeful when we’re overwhelmed with so much information and technology? Our tech and robots change by the day, but human evolution has taken billions of years. As a species, we’re adapting to these changes in our world to the best of our ability.
Neither you nor I will ever certainly know when we’ll die. No one knows that. If we did know, would that make a difference? When we were convinced of an apocalypse coming for us in 2012, did we become hopeful enough to take a step back to breathe and relish the marvels of humanity? Did we finally realize that we have a set number of days to look forward to and think that we should make the most of them? Is that the push that we need to keep our intellectual and curious spirits alive?
While your mind tries to answer my seemingly rhetorical questions, let me give you my answer. Our generation has more to look forward to than you and I have convinced ourselves of. The future becomes exciting when we learn to embrace the uncertainty and take comfort in it. Like my dad always says, there are only two things we can be certain of in life: 1) the Sun will rise from the East and set in the West and 2) death. The rest is up to us to experience. I can only wish that we choose to experience that zealously, cherishing each moment as a part of what makes humans, human.
