John Glen -- The Key to the Past is our Key to the Future
The closing remarks at the Conference were from astronaut and US senator John Glen. He is one of the most amazing people that I have had the honor of hearing speak. Such a full life and a unique perspective on the world around us. He started out by talking about travelling at 4.8 miles a second or 17 thousand miles per hour on the Friendship 7 and about his experiences as the first American to orbit the earth. He joked about the challenges of putting eye drops in his eyes and sleeping sideways in zero gravity.
It struck me when he described the atmosphere as a thin film (as seen from his space mission) and how this delicate balance supports all life on our planet. He talked about sun rises and sunsets on earth and how in space you can see the entire color spectrum during these events. It made me think about light, energy and time in a context that I has not before. He called it luminosity and that reminded me of the Sogyal Rinpoche book and his discussions of the full spectrum rainbow.
He mentioned two books that he was reading "3 Billion new Capitalists" and Friedman's "The World is Flat". It was neat that both of us sort of shared a reading list. He highlighted 2 keys to American success in her short 250 year history and it was 1) an investment in education and 2) an investment in research like no industrialized country had ever done before. What brought it home for me was when he noted that the Wright Brothers made there first attempt at flight in the early 1900's and 60 years later mankind was traveling to space. That was only possible through a huge investment in Research and Education. He noted that many countries are following this model of success today including China and India.
He concluded by stating that education and research were our keys to the past and are the keys to the future.
When I grow up -- I want to be an astronaut. Yeah I like the sound of that.
He mentioned two books that he was reading "3 Billion new Capitalists" and Friedman's "The World is Flat". It was neat that both of us sort of shared a reading list. He highlighted 2 keys to American success in her short 250 year history and it was 1) an investment in education and 2) an investment in research like no industrialized country had ever done before. What brought it home for me was when he noted that the Wright Brothers made there first attempt at flight in the early 1900's and 60 years later mankind was traveling to space. That was only possible through a huge investment in Research and Education. He noted that many countries are following this model of success today including China and India.
He concluded by stating that education and research were our keys to the past and are the keys to the future.
When I grow up -- I want to be an astronaut. Yeah I like the sound of that.
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