As science moves forward and humanity finds ways to expand civilization and its grasp on the Earth, I often get to wondering what the future holds. You know, questions like “When will we right the problem that is global warming?” and “When will we colonize Mars?” cross my mind quite often.

When these things happen, when we finally move forward and everyone sees what the real problems of our species are (i.e., not petty things like social media likes and selfish politicians making laws for mere states), I think things will advance quite rapidly. The problem currently is that everyone is split. Everyone sees the world differently. Some only envision money. Others only see God. And even still others just care about their simple little life in their simple little town. Only a chunk of humanity realizes the problems that lie ahead of us with our planet and what’s next with another planet. Only that chunk cares about those things at the moment and refuses to look at the here and now as the be all, end all. That chunk sees generations ahead of now and realizes there will be no future if we don’t start righting the ship here and now.

So, when we all collectively agree on the problems that lie before us, that’s when I think science will rocket forward like no other age in human history. That’s when the amount of funding for science will blow all other ages out of the water and we will advance more quickly than we know what to do with all the new findings.

This is the time I’m talking about. This is what I look forward to. Even basic materials like cardboard boxes, the current king of shipping materials, may be outdone by cheaper, stronger, lighter weight materials. As funny as that sounds, I often do think about things as simple as the shipping materials we use. For a long while, cardboard boxes have dominated the market. But I know there are lighter and stronger materials out there. It’s all a matter of time before we find a way to mass produce those materials for cheap. When that time comes, you’ll know that everything has been revolutionized.

What’s funny is that those materials, though, won’t come without a focus on space. When we pool our efforts, minds, and resources towards space, magical things happen. The internet becomes a thing. Worldwide shipping becomes a thing. New materials spring up and we start realizing how great they are in comparison to the materials we used to use. Space exploration uses the most cutting edge technologies and materials, and that’s how we improve our current materials and ways of thinking: by focusing on space.