Thoughts About Four Wheels And Beyond

January 2 2011, 5:43 AM  by John W. Furst

In the meantime it got bitter cold in Vienna this winter. There is snow everywhere and it's troublesome to get around. I understand our Maltese dog Bianca who refuses to make her feet wet outdoors at this season. It's okay.

Imagine you were in a wheelchair.

Two weeks ago I met Martin Mabacher at an Unconference in Vienna and I participated in his Barchair happening in which he gives everyday people access to a different point of view -- from a wheelchair. 

It was quite an interesting experience and I have to thank Martin for this. I actually did already by writing this post. It was first published in German language on Mabacher Bloggt.

When I first thought about "Four Wheels" in the context of what I just had learned I suddenly had two different ideas that will make up a nice story.


The common theme is Space.

On one hand humans are as fit for living in Space as Fish are fit for living in a desert. But on the other hand Zero Gravity up there could be a perfect environment for everyone who depends on a wheelchair.


Zero Gravity

I only sat in the wheelchair for a couple of minutes. I could easily ride around without any help, because I avoided the difficult part of getting off the carpet in the office.

Outdoors? I would have failed at this exercise. I am pretty sure about that. Especially in the winter. Yes, I got some idea about how it might feel to depend on a wheelchair everyday, but I only scratched the surface. Really, I do not think that I have a clue.

In Zero Gravity, however, this dependence is not given.

How does someone feel when being able to move around without much effort?

Maybe this guy has experience this great feeling of freedom from physical limitations.


Watch Prof. Stephen Hawking's facial expression, ... he looks happy, doesn't he.

Of course the regular health care plan won't pay US$ 150,000 for a Zero-G flight adventure of that kind. Besides it is not a practical solution to shoot people in wheelchairs into the sky and beyond to space stations (at least for the next 10 years or so.) There are other health related consequences to consider as well.

I just wanted to play with the idea and Prof. Hawking is an excellent role model for my thought experiment.

It shows that people with challenges and handicaps often compensate with over-achievements in other areas. Stephen Hawking himself told in an interview that he probably would not have worked so hard if he had known about his health condition early on. It was a strong push for him to focus and try to get his work done while he can instead of partying all the time.


Some Thought About The Future  

Now it is time for a shift. Read the following quote from the video above.

„Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster… I think the human race doesn't have a future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space.“

-- Prof. Stephen Hawking, 13 April 2007



Indeed Planet Earth is a dangerous place to be.

Don't get me wrong.

It's the best place and the only place. But life on Earth almost got completely extinct several times before...

Here is my final thought as well as question:

“Which of our imprints on Planet Earth will surpass our species’ lifetime the longest?”


Nature is real quick when it comes to erosion. Give it a couple of thousand years and our traces have been removed.

It could as well be that we need to move our traces into space. This car in the picture below has a much higher change of withstanding the test of time.



Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) used by Apollo astronauts.
Source: NASA


Mit diesem Foto möchte ich meinen Beitrag beenden und bereits legendären Männern wie Stephen Hawking, Peter Diamandis, Wernher von Braun und Sergej Pawlowitsch Koroljow folgend ausrufen,

“Let us look upward to the stars.”


Yours
John W. Furst 


P.S.: I am having some passion for Space Explorationq. In October 2008 bestseller author of business books Seth Godin published one of my essay—together with many others—in the Triiibes-E-Book.

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About the author: John W. Furst is an independent consultant who feels at home on three continents. He applies his 15+ years of experience with Internet and E-Mail Marketing to help companies make more money. Period.


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