The Gap Decades

How can one bridge a 4 1/2-decades gap? A lot went under and if anything survived, it would be unrecognizable or undesirable ( with the exception of Jane Fonda, once a sex-symbol, then Hanoi Jane, then 80’s aerobics actress marrying Ted Turner, and now every Friday- per her vow, a Climate Change activist).

Back in 1900, life expectancy for male was 47. Now it is inching at 79, a 3-decades+ gain. 32 years can bring a Cupertino company back from the brink (Apple); it can also scattered families or re-unite them or make millionaires out of miserables.

There were hardly any Vietnamese-American (1200) in the US up until the time US troops pulled out of VN (will there be a lot of Syrian from this point on). Yet, we managed to fill up a banquet room for our 44-year re-union in Tx. Some made strides, others were at a loss. But the faces and friendships were still recognizable.

To my best knowledge, those gap decades claimed a hearing, a spine, a memory and an eye – Minh, Thoa, Ve and Cuong – or worse off, a life: Anh, Long, Banh, Hong, Phuc, Bao. Now, it’s all “the remains of the day” with an eye toward the future.

In 20-30 years, rich people might space-travel, order or uber a self-driving car, and be cared for by a Japanese robot at home with body-parts delivered by drones.

We will only meet face-to-face when we have to or want to.

Memories of happy times will be our new currency not time. It is no longer money. Attention and recommendations are. More speed, more democratized Net, and more diverse interests (even chips are no longer on an universal silicon board).

Our foods will be individually “prescribed” by nutritionist-robots (Star-War like). Why eat s/t the body rejects and refuses.

Of course, we will know more than our old teacher(s) and parents.

But how can one filter information, distill knowledge to make wisdom?

Everything will be available at a price, except for the option of shutting down the machine (grid).

The gap decades have not adequately prepared us for these coming decades. Not when Moore’s Law still speeds up exponentially. As Sapiens, we barely got rid off the “Erectus” selves to use our minds and conquer our emotions (EQ). We still crave for inter-action and touch. Still a social animal.

Hence, we are ill-equipped to let go our past to embrace our future.

We progress to a plateau, slow and shun too much modernity.

Who among us asked to live past the mid point? is it for the health-care industry’s benefits (the same way Walmart scales its shopper’s base with AI in logistic to dominate walk-in, and Amazon, the same, if you prefer staying home.)

What can we talk about when we talk about old age and old times.

Can we still recognize the man/woman in the mirror? Can Jane Fonda?

Climate change. People change. Change itself is changing. Fast. Decades can go by again, and we will be looking back to the (upcoming) gap decades.

Can’t stand the thought of living down a technological life without being made aware of various and simultaneous software updates. What’s blockchain? What is a man? A social security number? Imago Dei? A few cents worth chemical properties, or a son-brother-husband-father-friend?

It ‘s time to circle back to the beginning, as a poet puts it ” in my end, my beginning”.

Our story continues – from that 47-yr-old ending (back in 1900) onward- an extended and ballooning middle, then the inevitable and swift end ( around age 79). Like a conclusion of a 24-episode with clues planted earlier in the scene, our lives carry its own suspense and surprises.

I am very interested in what’s going to happen to Jane Fonda next Friday, to Climate Change, and by extension, to me in upcoming decades. I will meet up with whoever peers. By that time, we would be much appreciative of human response as oppose to machine reply (Siri, Alexa….).

All of a sudden, we are of values, not because we outlive folks born in 1900, but because we are simmering and a sure alternative to hard and software, stuff that are too available and affordable ( more big screen TV’s anyone?).

You can’t buy friendship and empathy. We, Homo Deus, are wired to share and in turn receive those for free despite decades between us. That’s how one bridges the gap decades: by remembering the right stuff and ridding of the undesirable ones.