Do you remember when Jeff Bezos built a rocket and went into space? I’d completely forgotten about that event. It happened a few weeks ago and I’ve already moved on. Which got me thinking about how difficult it is to be the topic of public conversation.
A dude built a spaceship and propelled himself off the planet and we all stopped buzzing about it fifteen minutes after lift off. “Well, Bezos flew a giant penis into orbit. Cool! Now, which celebrities are getting divorced?” (If you’re confused by the penis reference, search the internet for “Blue Origin” and see what you get.)
When we landed on the moon the whole world talked about it. We referenced it in conversation. “We put a man on the moon yet we can’t make a decent cup of decaf.” The moon landing went into history books. It was a milestone event that permanently changed our culture.
I feel kind of bad for Bezos. What’s a guy got to do to get everyone talking about him? (And yes, the reason he blasted himself out of the atmosphere is so people would talk about him. When you’re craving an adrenaline rush without fanfare, you go base jumping.)
Even if he went to another planet we wouldn’t be impressed. Mars is the closest and it takes over a year to get there. One day after Bezos took off, we would forget he was even gone. By the time he landed, nobody would want to see his selfies. “Here I am standing on a patch of red dirt. Here I am holding a red rock. There’s my penis shaped ship surrounded by red dirt.”
It seems that Jeff Bezos (and Richard Branson) have demonstrated the truthfulness of ancient scripture. Everything is meaningless. Our most spectacular accomplishments are rewarded with a yawn. The greatest feats of mankind receive shrugs. There is nothing new under the sun and we are exceedingly bored by the same old same old.
“I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
– Ecclesiastes 1:13
