Sometimes a sub-atomic particle will suddenly gain or lose a quantum. When this happens, it is called a quantum leap. The particle is transformed. What once was, this, is now that. Ever since quantum leaps were discovered, they have been used as a metaphor for any dramatic transition from one sort of reality to another.
I think it’s a very useful metaphor.
Broadly speaking, the first half of the twentieth century saw more quantum leaps than any other time since the thirty-some years of the golden age of Greece. My own Grandma Ollie, who was born to horse and buggy travel, lived to see an American astronaut walk on the face of the moon.
Nothing like that has happened since.
We hear a great deal these days about the ever-accelerating pace of technological change. It’s a claim that is much exaggerated. Nearly every technology we have now, was discovered, or invented in the first half of the last century. Consider: radio, T.V., copiers, radar, digital computers, micro-wave ovens, even the Internet, and nearly all else. The only difference between then and now is that the newer machines are faster, cost less, and are easier to come by.
That’s not nothing; but it is not a quantum leap.
Perhaps I’ve overstated the case? After all, there was Crick & Watsons’ discovery of D.N.A. Surely that was a quantum leap. Then there was…ah… um…there must be… something else…something I’ve overlooked?
Sorry, I can’t think of any.
Rapid technological change is an anomaly; most change is leisurely. When innovations come chock-a-block, one after another, it is probably because some significant paradigm connected to that particular fast-moving culture was very different from the paradigm that came before, or after.
From 1900 to 1960, or thereabouts - at an accelerating pace - folks looked forward to flying cars, instant steak, self-cleaning houses, the elimination of all disease, and, of course, world peace. All of it right around the corner.
There was a T.V. show called The Jetsons that captured, in its own cartoonish way, the common expectation that the future would just keep getting better, and better. At least, that was the assumption of the previous half century.
After the 60’s, expectations became more muted.
What happened? Why was that former period so productive? Why not since?
I have some ideas.
The grotesque ballooning of government since the 1960’s is a large part of the problem. This seemingly inevitable growth of government started with Wilson. Then it was vastly accelerated by Roosevelt. They were both pikers compared to what followed.
In the society planned by our founding fathers, all men were free to pursue “Life. Liberty, and Property” (later changed to” Happiness”) in their own way, unimpaired by the back-seat drivers of a permanent, unelected, bureaucracy.
But, don’t we need rules and regulations?
Yes, but we don’t need millions of them. There are now more laws on the books than anyone other than a legal specialist can follow. If you want to succeed in business, you will need to hire that specialist. You may need to hire several. You can dream your dreams, but you must also thread your way through a labyrinth of permits, forms, fees, and oversights.
It will not be easy. It will not be fast. It will cost more than you ever imagined.
Many give up.
Overweening help from the minions of the dark state will not be the only stumbling block in your way. You will also need competent employees. The last several generations of graduates have been well schooled in the predatory, racist history of the United States, the superiority of socialism over free market capitalism, along with all the finer points of political correctness. Their knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic will probably be less impressive.
You must spend your own money and time to train them.
So, a suffocating government, a malignant educational system, and what else?
A lack of vision.
By that, I mean an inability to see beyond your nose. An inability to understand that there are realities more important than your immediate needs that matter more than you ever will. Much of this failure of vision is the consequence of walking away from God. When you walk away from God, you necessarily walk toward the evil that is always waiting to drain your energy.
In the years from 1900 to 1960 Americans walked with God toward a shining future they were confident they could build. They were proud to be part of the greatest nation the world has ever seen.
Could they make quantum leaps?
Of course they could.