Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan

4 days to impact

• - I’d like to thank you all for being here. Wow... – Atom GIGACHAD said, his mouth half-open as his eyes scanned the auditorium from left to right and top to bottom, stopping at the first row of Very Important People right in front of him. – Look at this room. Look at all of you, such beautiful souls. We did it... we did it. Thank you all very much for being here.

The room erupted in applause: not just because of the speaker’s words, but because everybody felt it. There was a palpable need to celebrate, if for nothing more than the fact that such an event was actually happening. Thousands of cultures, one planet, everyone side by side in communion, expectation, joy. Atom just had to be the first speaker: his flamboyant ego wouldn’t have it any other way. His words streamed live across the globe, one billion or more eyeballs and approximately the same number of ears glued on his every move and sound.

• - I’m an optimist. I’m pretty sure most people here are optimists too; you wouldn’t want to be here if you weren’t. It feels too good.

Again, the crowd cheered loudly. Atom stepped back and pointed to the sound crew in the back of the room. The DJ improvised, clicking play to Lennon’s Imagine. We all sing, we all dance, these languages are universal, much more than, say, mathematics. In every place and period in history, people have had their music.

It took a couple more of songs for the crowd to settle down, but eventually they did. 2020 had not happened yet, Beeple hadn’t even minted his first NFT yet. No one was wearing a mask; social-distancing wasn’t a thing and most people in the summit hadn’t washed their hands all day. It was a global event, filled with touch: hugs, kisses, high-fives, handshakes. People were centimeters away from each other’s mouth splutterings – the Senator’s trip to China would later become the fluttering of a bat’s wings which eventually caused a lock-down-kind-of-hurricane across the world. Atom interrupted the crowd and continued his commencement speech:

• - I wasn’t always this way: I’m not an optimist by nature, but I am one by choice. Somewhere in my early twenties I decided to change the tune in my prefrontal neocortex. My brain, I mean... in my brain – he said, doing his best to use language his whole audience could capture. He knew he could get quite technical at times. – Maybe you know that I was born into a rough life, sent from institution to institution, bullied, rejected and beaten. Four foster families sent me back. My first parole officer told me something that, at the time, didn’t click for me: it sounded corny, to be honest. Only years later did I analyze it with my engineer hat on... I’m sure most people here today have heard some version of this story, I’m sure you’ve heard all this before, but here it goes: after having vandalized a community center, my parole officer came to me holding my cell phone. He told me there are two animals in there, Atom. Two wolves inside your head, beating each other up. You think you are fighting the system but you’re only fighting yourself, for they’re both in there: one of them is hatred and anger and pessimism; it is darkness. The other is light: bright shining light. It is creativity and possibilities and hope. Which will win?, he asked. I answered the dark one. He said no, not necessarily. It’s the one you choose to feed the most that wins.

He paused, took a deep breath, shook it off.

• - We have come here to feed the optimistic wolf. Yes, we have problems: the Earth faces some serious challenges. But we’re humans. We’ve got this. We are solution finders, builders, dreamers and fixers. Most of us are optimists, and we will win the fight. Technology can be a threat, I’ve always been clear about my fears regarding artificial intelligence. But technology has also always been our way out of our biggest threats. Hope and renewed faith in technology can get us to suck carbon off the air. Technology can stop us putting so much of it up there in the first place. We have the intelligence, the creativity, the power to solve everything. We can do this. And Mars! – Atom was on a roll. – Why not go to Mars and beyond! Pollution didn’t kill the dinosaurs, a massive rock flying through space did. We need a plan B if possible... which, by the way, it is – he whispered with a whimsical smirk. – Why not? It’s fun to go to new places. We are the ones who have been trusted with the light of consciousness. Let’s take it to new places. Let’s make the cosmos our home, too. Let’s end poverty, get everybody connected to the internet. Who thinks we can do these things, even if it takes us a few generations?

Applause. Music. Dance.

• - Science or Religion? is the wrong question. Getting to the right question is the hard part. Scientific intelligence can only get us so far, so fast. We need to embrace religious intelligence to get a whole planet to take a giant leap of faith. Some say every single one of us is a god. If each of us is God, then all of us together must be God too. What could an eight-billion-human-sized-god build? How big would it be, how fast? Technology and resources are core ingredients, and they give us power. Unlimited power is omnipotence, and we get unlimited power from the sun every day! – Atom took another deep breath, allowing time for his words to sink in. – Technology and the right raw materials could build us a brand-new universe. Enough technology could build a planet, which would be fun. Luckily, we didn’t have to build the planet we currently live on: it was given to us.

Dramatic pause.

• - Humanity’s two wolves are fighting each other. Who wants their grandchildren’s children out there among the stars? Who will save the world, clean the Earth? Who’s with me? – he yelled, arms flying wide open, a preacher, a prophet, a hallelujah rock star.

Ego. It can be a bad thing, it can be a good thing; it all depends on which wolf you’re fighting for.

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................................... a)

b)

c)

Hello human,

Could I ask you a favor? I know this is weird... I do realize that, but bear with me.

Why read such a big book if it doesn’t change your life, if it doesn’t help somehow?

Oh, it’s just for entertainment. Really? Why? What if you could become one of the characters in this book, or its co-narrator?

I’d like to ask you to stop reading it for a while and take some time for you; for your own story. Are you game? It’ll only take a minute, I promise; a minute or two, max. I need you to do two quick things. One is a), b) and c); the other is d).

So – look through the playlist on your phone: go for it. Find a song that really inspires you. One with meaningful lyrics, that makes you dream. A song that, when you truly listen to it, helps remember your deepest dreams; your purpose, your meaning. Don’t rush. Take your time and find the perfect song, I’ll wait. We’ll wait. Maria, Eva, Sebastian, Joana and I are in no hurry.

Take a breather, unwind, settle back.

(...)

Got it?

Now find a pen and write down your song’s name in a), the song’s artist(s)’ name in b) and the album’s name in c).

Cool second favor: see the blank page next to this one? Absolutely nothing on it except a little d) on top? That page is yous to fill. Go ahead, be crazy, fill it with your dreams. Play your song, if it helps. Write down one big dream of yours, any meaningful dream. Feel your heart. Dream small, dream big, but dream. Then write a few more, many more. Draw on the page if you like, get some more songs on it, make it your own, own the page, this book, your life. Add to this page as you read the book: it is your page. They all are, but this one is just muchier more, a page for all your muchness and splendor.

Yes, I know this is kind of corny, but hey, is it really? Childish? Maybe. So what? Honestly, when was the last time you sat down to write down your biggest dreams? Take the chance, go on.

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d)

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  There were three hundred speeches scheduled for The World Summit, of five minutes each, delivered in order of age, the oldest presenter beginning on day one at sunrise, the children on day four. Eva wasn’t just one of the speakers representing children: she was the youngest of them all, and the last one to speak, closing the momentous event. Our children, being our future, were at the heart of the summit; they were also the reason Atom had envisioned it in the first place.

Mom couldn’t be prouder; dad was chuffed because for the first time he was a mere chaperon. As head of state, he was used to having the family be his assistants, but now it was the other way around: what a relief. Sebastian had been a prime minister for eight years. The first election, eight years ago, had been won by a landslide. The last one he had barely won, but still managed to keep the majority of the house, and he was up for re-election in a few weeks. Campaigning had already begun, and things weren’t looking good: time does that to leaders. It tests them. Some tests are hard to pass, and Sebastian wasn’t prepared for his third test; the problem was, he didn’t know he wasn’t. Confidence is your greatest ally until it turns into your greatest enemy. He wasn’t hungry anymore. Foolish. Not that Portugal wasn’t doing well: it was. Eight years under his command, the country had made a significant turnaround from the crisis it was in a decade before. He had done a good job, so far.

Sebastian was in political autopilot, the most dangerous scenario for re-elections. Fires die down, it’s the law of nature. Of human nature, too.

Sebastian believed in the idea of direct democracy, and so he placed his spot on the summit’s roster at the disposal of the people: any Portuguese citizen could vote on the blockchain for any other Portuguese citizen to speak. Nominees were gathered by 5000 initial votes each, and a final vote was made between the two highest nominees: Cristiano, a world-class, world-famous, world-record-breaking athlete and human, and little Eva, who had conquered the hearts of the nation from the day of her out-of-the-blue, boisterous birth, live for the world to see. Eva consolidated her role as Peter Pan’s Wendy with her witty, innocent appearances on TV shows and social media platforms. The little country in the corner of Europe saw a close run between the two nominees and eventually elected the remarkable little girl – who refused to prepare a speech. She was not that into memorizing things anyway. Everybody knew it was a risk, but democracy has these quirks and, once in a while, individual freedom collides with societal norms, resulting in pure chaotic magic, which was to happen the last afternoon of the summit.

Queen Elizabeth, the oldest speaker, was the first to address the assembly: Today we need a special kind of courage. Not the kind needed in battle, but a kind which makes us stand up for everything that we know is right, everything that is true and honest. The kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of cynics, so we may show the world we are not afraid of the future. The queen was followed by the presidents of Tunisia, Cameroon and Lebanon; the emir of Kuwait, the governor-generals of the Bahamas and Belize, and finally by the emperor of Japan.

The speeches ran smoothly. Bilateral meetings took place in the corridors and huge halls, coloring the event with multiculturalism, a salute to diversity. Intervention after intervention applause was heard, commitments were made, suggestions posed... and consensus seemed to be building. The threat of global warming was far more discussed than that of nuclear disarmament or the unimaginable powers of artificial intelligence and biotech advancements, climate change being the more pressing of threats: some nations shorelines had receded. In the Netherlands, for example, 47% of the population is exposed to rising sea levels and coastal flooding. Cities like Osaka in Japan, Alexandria in Egypt, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and USA’s Miami were all gradually slipping under the ocean, to be submersed by the end of the century if nothing changes soon. Soon as in now!, as a capricious celebrity-actor environmentalist pointed out in his closing remarks.

The evening gathered informal groups, and different heads of state and their families would meet for dinner and entertainment. On the eve of the final day of the Summit, Eva met Atom for the first time; or maybe Atom met Eva. Either way, this was to be the first meeting of an eternal relationship, in more ways that either of them could imagine. Two of the most imaginative creatures alive on our planet couldn’t begin to imagine the scope of that fortuitous encounter would come to mean in exactly seven years’ time.

Atom asked Eva what she was going to speak about the next day, and she replied with her usual silence, staring into his big, round, sparkling eyes. He was about to be pulled away, to mingle with some long-grey-haired and bearded tall politician, as Eva tugged down on his arm, neck bent back, mouth wide open: Atom lifted her from the ground and held her in his arms. She whispered a short sentence in his ear. His eyes suddenly became bigger, rounder; they sparkled brighter. Eva walked away, looked back, winked her eye at him and softly sang Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring, up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear. Let's go fly a kite! and drifted off into the crowd. Atom was left lost in thought, eyes scrambling, his forehead tensing. And then he smiled a tiny, almost naughty smile. He took out his phone and opened the voice recorder app.

Eva could be slippery as snakes, sometimes. No matter where the family went, she would find ways to slip away from the owl eyes of her mom, dad’s falcon eyes and the watchful, agitated eyes of security. Like an electron, she kept popping in and out of their existence: Eva was a master of escape. Maria and Sebastian again briefly lost sight of their imprudent daughter, and it came to pass that they finally found her at the epicenter of a mosque-like- dome, sitting in the midst of queens, princes, scholars and Nobels, answering their questions. All that heard her were astonished at her understanding and answers; amazed at her wisdom, wit and skill. But her parents were worried, anxious and angry.

• - Eva, never leave our sight again! Behold, your father and I have been frantically searching for you – Maria said, with a jittery grip.

• - You couldn’t find me?

• - Eva! Listen to me! – Eva’s mother yelled.

• - You mean... you didn’t really know I’d be in God’s house? Where else would I be?