Ripples Through Time by Lincoln Cole

Author:Lincoln Cole
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: LC Publishing
Published: 2015-08-01T23:00:00+00:00

Edward White

The Middle Ground

Present Day

“One of my favorite memories,” Calvin says as he finishes his story, “with Bethany. It wasn’t long after that when I couldn’t go to the barn anymore.”

“When you got sick?” I ask. I want to check my watch and see what time it is, but I know it hasn’t been too long.

Maybe I should call Bethany?

…not yet, I decide. I’ve got him talking, so I don’t want to push my luck just yet.

Calvin nods. “For a few months. Stress, the doctor said. I think I was just getting older. My body couldn’t handle it anymore.”

I can’t help but smile at the memories. I wish like hell I’d been able to work with horses. I don’t know if I would have been any good at it, but that isn’t really the point. The point is that it’s just something I never got to do.

Calvin did. I’m jealous as hell about that.

I mean, I’m good at what I do. Computer engineering. I was lucky to go to a good school. Not many high schools teach languages or coding. I personally think every school should focus on computers, and not just how to use them for social networking.

Not anything too complex. I’m not saying teach kids machine code or C, but something higher level. Java or Ruby. Or maybe Python for good mathematics scripting. And SQL. Everyone should learn at least the most general pieces of a database.

That’s the problem with this new generation. Kids are masters at using their phones. They can navigate the menus, play games, send messages, and do virtually anything…as long as it’s part of the interface.

But ask them how the phone works to send a message through satellite routing, or how a battery powers the circuit board and they stare at you like you’re crazy. This new generation of kids just isn’t interested in understanding how stuff works.

We think we’re smart as a nation. As a world. Advanced well beyond anything this planet’s ever seen before. But I’m not so sure. In the grand scheme of things, we live balanced on a knife’s edge. Almost all of our food is genetically engineered, so what happens if suddenly our bodies can’t process these new super vegetables anymore? It would take barely weeks to have mass starvation.

Don’t get me wrong. I know about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s seed vaults, but that’s beside the point. That won’t save us all. We, as humans, are not making a conscious effort to ensure our food supply.

And that’s because we are selfish and want to impose our will on those around us. We just do things without thinking about them. Like developing a fossil-fuel based economy without ever caring how much it will hurt us later on. Or pumping harmful chemicals into the atmosphere without caring that they make it difficult to breathe.

If we even miss one generation of education and technology, we would lose it all. The ability to make computers, our knowledge of medicine, our scientific advancements.

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