[OSList] The New Space Race?

[Michael Herman]

Hi all,

I had a thought recently that might be interesting here, and that maybe you
can add on to, as a story and conversation here.  And then in the world.
This overlaps with some other recent threads, too, I think.

As background, I'm exactly old enough that the moon landing is, as best I
can tell, my oldest memory.  I've seen pictures of stuff that happened
before, but I clearly remember the space toys being given away at gas
stations, our family buying our first color TV, and (just like now) keeping
our distance... in that case we were supposed to stay six feet from the new
set.

>From that global moment came all kinds of "big blue marble" photos, Bucky
Fuller's "Spaceship Earth," and other images.  Now we had a picture of "all
in this together" where "all" really was every human.  And then, a few
decades later, we've created a global network, a global economy, and global
epidemics.  Not everyone made a direct, conscious connection about those
images from space, but somehow we all grew up participating in the creation
of these global structures and phenomena.

Now I think we might have a chance to accelerate our swing back, to the
micro, the local, the individual in equally strong, long-term ways.  It
took us a while to get there, but the message coming clearer now is "wear a
mask," for instance, "to protect others..."  And inside of that, this seems
like a visceral reminder that "what you, the little individual does -- does
matter."  It matters with masks and the virus, but it can be, and I hope it
will be, quickly translated to the plastic we use, the miles we drive, the
other things we purchase and reinforce with our money, the way we manage
emotions in groups, and so on.  It matters for everyone to manage their own
"stuff," their own behavior, purchases, words, and other choices.

This is what I hope we might be learning, anyway.  And within all of the
possibilities, choosing to take responsibility for one's own experience,
actively choosing to be learning and contributing, seems to me about the
best choices we could focus on, each of us, individually and personally.
What we've been saying all along, in various ways, that individual agency
and actions matter, seems more important and understandable that ever.

This makes me curious if and how what is happening now with the virus and
what we've all been teaching and practicing and inviting "in open space,"
might shape the world over the next few decades.  I wonder what kind of a
world might emerge from increasing awareness of personal agency,
responsibility, learning and contributing, in meetings and everywhere
else.

This is one good thing I have imagined could emerge from this.  This is the
view I'm testing as I watch the news and talk with clients these days.

What do you think might come out of the current situation, on any scale?

And is there anything else to do about helping it along, for now, wherever
we are?

Michael


--

Michael Herman
Michael Herman Associates
312-280-7838 (mobile)

MichaelHerman.com
OpenSpaceWorld.org
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