One thing I appreciated about the Twilight Zone was how it counteracted mediocrity. I mean, yeah – our current state of science and technology is mediocre-friendly, but we weren’t always this way. We became content with just being good enough, instead of striving for excellence. I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’ve made some amazing advancements and discoveries, but it seems like we’re constantly dumbing things down to make it more palatable for the masses.
The Twilight Zone knew that science and technology are not meant to be easy. It’s not meant to be understood by everyone. It takes hard work, dedication, and a certain level of intelligence to truly grasp the complexities of these fields. Yet, we’ve somehow convinced ourselves that everyone should be able to understand and appreciate it, and if they don’t, then we’re not doing our job right.
Then something happened. We started saying ‘hey, why bother with in-depth explanations and complex theories when we can just oversimplify everything and make everyone feel like they have a basic understanding?’ That’s the approach we seem to be taking these days – you see where it’s getting us. And don’t even get me started on the whole “everyone gets a participation trophy” mentality. Just because someone can use a smartphone doesn’t mean they have a deep understanding of the technology behind it.
An interesting thing about this is that there are people out there who are doing things correctly. Take Elon Musk, for example. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he is pushing the boundaries of science and technology. He’s challenging us to think bigger and better but then he’s also enabling people to nurture their worst behaviors. I guess heroes are only in comic books.
The Twilight Zone and it’s anti-mediocre focus celebrated the countless scientists and researchers working tirelessly to make groundbreaking discoveries and advancements in their fields. They’re not dumbing things down, they’re pushing the limits of human knowledge and understanding. We need to get back to that.
I miss those days, when I knew that we deserve better than this watered-down version of science and technology and everyone else knew it, too. We deserve to be challenged, to be inspired, and to be in awe of the incredible things that are being accomplished. Let’s be like the Twilight Zone and be anti-mediocrity. Stop settling for good enough and demand excellence. Because in the end, that’s what will truly advance society and propel us forward.
