As a lifelong Trekker and Star Wars fan, proud member of the Young Astronauts program in the early 1980s and pupil of my state's Teacher in Space representative (who knew Christa McAuliffe as a result and suffered greatly when she and I watched the Challenger explosion together that cold January morning), I have always been intrigued by the possibilities, both imagined and as-yet-undiscovered. I'd planned to become an astrophysicist, but Life has a way of redirecting you at times. 😆 I still stay read up in all these areas out of sheer love and interest in the topic. I have long pointed out the origin of the smartphone (the original flip cell phones, actually, as described by the initial inventors as having been Star Trek-inspired) and the actual real-world use of medi-beds by the US military, also based off Trek concepts. Gear I used myself in the military seemed to me to have a quasi-Trek/Star Wars similarity.
All of which is to say that this, by far, my most favorite of all your thought talks, one that grew my smile even broader as I listened, and brought back both fond memories of my earlier years and served as a reminder to renew my daily check-ins with a few science news sites I used to frequent daily. Recent surgery got me out of the habit (hospital time is like a wormhole at the best of moments, a black hole beyond the event horizon [theorized] at the worst), but while still in recovery, now is a perfect time to review and renew my selected habits.
Thank you so much for sharing these thoughts with us all here in the Insight Timer community. I bookmarked and downloaded this talk - always good for a pick-me-up should one start feeling a bit discouraged. The stars are out there and are also are us ourselves, literally. This is why I see the light in us all...we are made of the stuff of stars, and shine brightly in our own ways. And as always, I see the light in you, Tom. 🤲❤️🤲😊
