I think we continue to underestimate both the cultural and technological sophistication of our ancient ancestors.
Another angle that fascinates me is to consider the number of times that major technological discoveries were -almost- made, but didn’t happen. For example: How agonizingly close were we to having electricity harnessed perhaps hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of years earlier? How many Stone Age artisans -almost- discovered iron and steel before somebody finally did?
Things like the so-called “Baghdad battery” or Heron of Alexandria’s steam engine amaze me... Mainly because they were -so- close to something revolutionary. Yet for some reason, key dots remained unconnected.
Which all begs the question of course: What future discoveries and revolutionary technologies are we just -ever- so close to, yet haven’t quite pieced together yet?
Well, ever since I was a small boy we've been just this close to harnessing solar energy as a major power source.
Where’s my flying car?
stand on a smooth piece of glass and aim an electron microscope right at the point where foot and glass touch, and you will see stactites and stalagmites... some touching each other (top and bottom) and some not.
Focus on one pair of stalactite and stalagmite that touch each other, zoom way, way, WAY in at that point asnd you will see ... stalactites and stalagmites ... some touching each other and some not.
Keep zooming in until we get down to the atoms, and everybody KNOWS those pesky electrons are whizzing around the nucleus just resisting the atomic laws of unlike signs attract, and they are not imploding ... and they're not really touching each other ... just sort of attracted to one another in cohesion and ...
we walk on air.