Author: MatthewY

In the story by the Daily Mail about SpaceX’s Starlink project, there is a debate about how we as humans should use out space. The specific debate about Starlink is that Starlink hampers the ability of people on earth to see natural constellations, but there are further debates on the use of outer space.

Currently, the only regulation on what cannot be done in outer space is the Outer Space Treaty(Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) signed in 1967. It prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction in outer space and that no nation can claim sovereignty over outer space or any celestial body.

Personally, I think that the Outer Space Treaty should be expanded to include some provisions that apply to Antarctica by the Antarctic Treaty System, which include a ban on all military activity, and freedom of navigation. What we also need is a system to dispose of human material in outer space once it is decommissioned, because our current system is to just blast satellites to higher orbits.

Outer space has always been free to all mankind(and possibly other organisms as well), and should remain so.

In her Tedx Macatawa talk Living as Gen Z: From Fear to Positive Change, Madi Hammond talks about many things related to life as a member of Generation Z(also known as Zoomers), the term used in the Western world to describe people who were born between the mid 1990s(1995-1997), and the early 2010s(2010-2014). Among other things, she talks about living with the Internet. This reminded me of a topic that I had recently been reading about, the power of social media.

The first time that I came upon this topic(as in the recent time I have been reading about it), was in Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman. In the book, Rutger Bregman describes the news and social media as “one of the biggest addictions of our times”. He pointed to scientific studies that showed that people that follow the news daily are more likely to be stressed and depressed, as well as cynic, misanthropic, and pessimistic. As one of his suggestions of how people can live better, he included the suggestions to avoid the news and social media.

By then, I was curious, and I looked up one of the articles in the references, an article in the Business Insider called ‘Silicon Valley Parents Are Raising Their Kids Tech-Free-And It Should Be a Red Flag’. The article is just as the title suggests;it talks about parents who work in tech companies who raise their kids with limited access to electronics at home.

At this point, I remembered a point my friend Steven made when we were talking about
political approval ratings. He said that in modern days, approval ratings fluctuate less than before, because before, people would talk face-to-face, and present their arguments during the conversation. Now, however, most people talk online, and they agree with anyone that shares their political position, and insults people who disagrees with them without going into the why. As a result, people change their political opinions less.

Despite its many downsides(and it’s many upsides), social media is still a major part of our lives that we cannot live without. I prefer to think that as long as the amount of use is limited, it is useful, and the real danger is addiction. I’ll end by quoting James Cook, the current CEO of Apple, “I’m not a person that says we’ve achieved success if you’re using it all the time, I don’t subscribe to that at all.”

In her TedxOcala talk The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong, Amy Morin says that to live a better life, you need to change yourself. This reminded me of a book I had recently read(and strongly recommend you read). The book’s name is Humankind: A Hopeful History, and it is written by a Dutch historian named Rutger Bregman. In the book, he talks about many things, but the main theme is the argument that humans are good people by nature, despite the majority of the world’s institutions being based on the idea that humans are bad by nature. In the epilogue, he gives some words of advice on some things we could do that would make our life better, and I would like to share some of them with you.

The first is to assume the best. Bregman writes that people have a negativity bias, which magnifies unpleasant experiences over pleasant experiences. He says that when you’re in doubt about a person’s intentions, you should always assume the best. Most people do mean well, and if you don’t give them a chance to present feedback, you’ll never know that.

The second is to try and understand other people, even if you don’t agree with their ideas. Bregman says that we should try to understand other people, because humans are based on reason and intellecuation, and understanding each other helps with the development of trust.

The third is not to be ashamed to do good. We are all taught throughout our lives to be humble, and to not brag about good stuff we’ve done. Scientists have discovered that people often fabricate excuses when they do good to make sense of why they are doing. But, as Bregman points out, people are naturally inclined to do good, and that is something that people shouldn’t try to hide from.

These are some of the tips mentioned in Humankind: A Hopeful History. I have taken some of his advice, and it’s actually quite effective. There are plenty of changes we could do to make our lives better, and we shouldn’t be afraid to make them. Like Amy Morin said in her Tedx talk, “it all starts with just one small step.”