I remember a discussion I had many years ago when I was a teenager. It was in my parent’s kitchen and one of my dad’s friends – an intelligent guy who I respected because of his independent streak – was trying to convince me that we (people, the world, mankind) had already discovered just about all the major inventions that were ever going to be discovered.
This conversation couldn’t have lasted more than about 5 minutes, but I remember it because I was so surprised. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. I’ll never know whether he was just baiting me or actually believed what he was saying.
But what I do remember was that here was a guy who I respected, going against one of the fundamental beliefs – one of the most obvious “facts” – of post-World War II western society. We had been taught that the discoveries of the first half of the century were just the beginning, and that there were amazing things ahead we could not even imagine.