The Meaning of Life 79
Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on
man. I realize that this is in some measure an act of faith
and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await
us,” the former US President, John F Kennedy, explained in
a famous speech from 1962.^19
Elon has similar ideas as Kennedy. “If we are able to
establish life on another planet, it requires us to learn a lot
about climate and maintaining a climate equilibrium,” he
said. “So there’s a huge amount we would have to learn in
trying to establish life in a hostile environment and that we
then could translate back to Earth.”^358
Several new ideas are the result from unexpectedness.
While Alexander Graham Bell tried to invent a hearing aid
when he invented the telephone, Christopher Columbus
discovered America when he tried to find the shortest pas-
sage to India. Alexander Fleming discovered the medical
virtues of penicillin when the mold infiltrated a sample he
had left by an open window.
Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple, argued that
technology always moves us forward. “I realize that when
engineers create something there is often an argument that
the creation could be used for bad or good. Like the atomic
bomb,” he said. “Inside my head – and this is what has
really stayed with me – I came to the view that basically,
yes, technology is good and not bad. People argue about
this all the time, but I have no doubts about it at all. I believe
technology moves us forward. Always.”^17
There are several examples where new technologies
have improved the world. During the Cold War, Vice