A Conversationi with Quinn

So, Quinn and I were driving in the car - a place where most of our best conversations take place - and he was telling me about space.  And flowing water on Mars.  And that water is needed for life.  And that maybe there were microbes or something there.  And that maybe life is also on some other planets, because there HAVE been planets found that are "Goldilocks" planets, just the right distance from their own just-right-sized star, that maybe could sustain life.  All very interesting to think about.  And then he said this:

"We always assume that if there's aliens out there, they must be so far advanced in comparison to us.  But what if we're the ones that are more advanced?"

I thought about that, and then replied "Well, I guess we assume they're more advanced because they'd be coming to us, and we're not yet capable of coming to them."

"Not yet," he replied.  "Give us time.  We'll get there.  And maybe we'll find them!"

This reminds me of a friend from years ago, who stated that what he loved about Star Trek was that it gave him hope for the future.  I'd never really thought about that, but suddenly, hearing my son dream about a far distant future, that made sense to me.  The movie "Tomorrowland" gave me a similar feeling. 

We hear about our imminent demise and that of our planet so much every day - global warming, Isis, thermonuclear war, zombie apocalypse - that I've stopped assuming that we're going to HAVE much of a future. Maybe subconsciously, but it's definitely there.  That feeling of impending doom.   Honestly.  That's depressing!!  But what if, just what IF, we don't self destruct????  What if we miraculously survive ourselves, and it's NOT the end of the world as we know it?  I didn't even realize that I'd had that EOTWAWKI mentality until my son unabashedly dreamt of a distant future where we explore the universe and find other living species.  A good, exciting future, not a "Panem" Hunger-games style future.    What if there's hope for this human race?  I didn't even realize it wasn't there, until he surprised me with it.  Hope.  HUH.  That'd be really cool. 

Thank goodness for eleven year old boys, who are still capable of dreaming about good things.  I need to keep them close.  Maybe their optimism will rub off on me!!