I have very strange thoughts running through my head. Thank goodness I have you to share them with. Otherwise, they'd be stuck inside with no way to get out.
Given another couple of decades of progress in technology, the rate of which is increasing exponentially, a marvel like the iPhone will bepassé. Passé to the point of us shaking our heads at how Neanderthal-like we all were at the time. We will no doubt communicate with each other using invisible devices, no longer tethered to the requirements of a physical handheld device.
But imagine what an iPhone would look like to Fred Flintstone. Try mentally imagining how you would explain to old Fred and Barney how this amazing jeweled looking wonder came from simple elements in the earth, elements that Fred and Barney have at their disposal: tar, dirt and sand. To them it would be sorcery; even to someone of the Bronze Age who understands how to convert what comes out of the earth with a shovel into metal to make a sword it would be magic. Arthur C. Clarke's great quote comes to mind. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
What we take for granted is an accumulation of all we've been since we first emerged on the earth millions of years ago. When we dream about traveling to the stars, transporting ourselves along with Captain Kirk, or ordering a cup of Earl Gray from a machine, it's easy to forget what it took to get where we are.
And when I look at my listening room, I am humbled to think all of what's there came from a few trees, a pile of dirt, sand and a few cups of oil. That's truly remarkable.
See? I told you strange stuff rattles around up there.
