John Glenn was one of my boyhood heroes. I remember as a young boy listening to reports of him taking off and making those three orbits of the earth.
My uncle gave me a crystal radio shaped like Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule that ignited a fierce passion into radio that led to a ham radio license and a lifelong interest in science.
It was a time in America when the future seemed endless, anything was possible. A lot has changed since then but that sense of optimism has never completely left me and may be the reason despite one crash and burn that I am still an entrepreneur. Still hopeful for a better future.
>It was a time in America when the future seemed endless, anything was possible.
Somewhere between "We choose to go to the moon" and "if you see something, say something" we traded all of our hope and optimism for fear and suspicion.
That's a really simplistic way of thinking about it.
The red scare continued through the late 1950s (and the cold war continued for decades -- there was no lack of fear and suspicion).
John Glen orbited the earth in 1962, in the middle of all this.
The nation doesn't wake up, flip and coin and decide it's either optimistic or fearful one day. You can be scared of some things and optimistic about others. Or both at the same time. Or some people are optimistic, and others have more fears.
It's complicated, but pithy quotes ("I'm just hoping for hope again") are stupid.
I appreciate this comment, but I disagree with your statement that "pithy quotes are stupid". Perhaps nothing has changed, but it certainly seems that pessimism, worry, and fear are far more prevalent than optimism now, so I see nothing wrong with a hope for an increase in widespread hope and optimism.
Yeah. Having a common fear or enemy is often the _cause_ for optimism and rallying around common goals. It's stupid to suggest that fear prevents us from striving for great things.
> Somewhere between "We choose to go to the moon" and "if you see something, say something" we traded all of our hope and optimism for fear and suspicion.
We chose to go to the moon because we were afraid (afraid of Communism, afraid of the Russians, afraid of the Cold War).
That doesn't mean great things can only come about as the result of fear and suspicion, but it's not like the Space Race was a great example of hope and optimism in contrast with fear and suspicion.
In one of his essays, David Brin attempts to define the difference between science fiction and fantasy as one of optimism vs pessimism. In fantasy, the characters reminisce about the good old days, when there was a golden age. In sci-fi, the characters believe that the golden age is in their future-- that things are going to get better.
Would you mind talking about your passion for radio? It's not something I've really thought about (beyond a general, taking-it-for-granted "hey this is handy, I'm glad we have this in our repertoire of technology"), so I'd love to hear about your love.
Ham radio isn't just a single hobby but multiple hobbies under a single banner. Initially I was interested in building things, to go from a handful of parts and a roll of solder to a completed device.
Then I got interested in communicating, talking to people all over the world. With the net that seems perfectly normal, but it was a different world back then. I made friends from all over, some of whom came to visit me.
For a while I got really interested in contesting which is a competition to talk to as many people as you can in a single weekend. That progressed when I got to Michigan State into working with others in a special group of contesting called multi-multi (multiple operators with multiple transmitters) where you'd work with a group of people at one location. This produced some difficult technical challenges and helped me become a leader.
After school I became interested in the public service aspect where hams provide communications during disasters or events like marches or marathons.
I think my original interest in communication is why I purchased a modem for my first computer and became fascinated with BBS's and later the net. Really its just another form of communication.
For me, the best thing about ham radio are the connections you make with people - in that ham radio enthusiasts are self selected. They seem to be an eclectic bunch of resourceful, witty, kind, and clever people.
You can listen to amateur radio without a license, you just can't transmit. Pick up a Baofeng 2 meter unit from Amazon and find your local repeater. Or, find a local Ham club and I'm sure they'll talk to you for hours about it! :-)
For me, it's a joy to hear people talk about the things they are passionate about. I go out of my way to ask people to just talk about the things that interest them. I would be surprised if a majority of HN users did not have similar feelings.
Do you not ask people why they like things that they're excited or jazzed about? 'Cause I mean--I do all the time. (I also ask about things people hate. You learn a lot from those two questions.)
Your first line is basically the same as my motivation--"Why on earth would you be interested in that?" I want to understand people and the world around me better. There's a lot out there that I know nothing about, and I like hearing about passionate peoples' interests. I love it when people get excited about the things they love, because they're also often excited to share that joy with others.
My uncle gave me a crystal radio shaped like Glenn's Friendship 7 capsule that ignited a fierce passion into radio that led to a ham radio license and a lifelong interest in science.
It was a time in America when the future seemed endless, anything was possible. A lot has changed since then but that sense of optimism has never completely left me and may be the reason despite one crash and burn that I am still an entrepreneur. Still hopeful for a better future.