Something that really used to bother me about science fiction movies is the way that anyone could jump into any spaceship and make it fly. Anywhere. Here, in the past, there are tests and certifications that are needed. No one, even in the future, could know all the rules and regulations, and buttons and joysticks and skills to fly any spaceship they happen to find themselves in. Forget the realization that the copilot has two heads and one of them always eats pudding. I somehow find that more believable than the fact that everyone in the future knows how to fly every spaceship on the market.
I work with a young and talented guy named Andrew. He grew up with flush toilets, color TV, cell phones, computers and medium-rare steak. They’ve always been a part of his life. I have the same computer equipment he does. I also have the same software he uses. He has the ability to not read the directions and in twenty minutes be an expert at Photoshop. I watch him do this. He stares at it for about three seconds, figures out his options, then accomplishes the task he set out to do. The results are always perfect. After 45 minutes of trying to put text on a page I’m leaving the office because I might blurt out some bad swears.
Then it hit me the other day. Given enough time, and enough generations, this gift Andrew and his generation possesses will eventually evolve into the ability to sit in any spaceship and fly it off into other galaxies. So the next question is, will his grandchildren or great-grandchildren begin to grow two heads? Will one of those heads crave pudding?
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