Neil Armstrong's Legacy

The recent passing of Neil Armstrong at the age of 82 has caused many of us to stop what we are doing and consider man's past and ponder its future.  This is not an obituary for the first man to have ever set foot on the Moon or any surface not called Earth.  This is simply a commentary on the significance of that momentous step in July of 1969.

The lunar landing was, for mankind, the defining moment of the twentieth century.  In a century that contained countless events that we would like to forget, Armstrong's steps onto a distant world will be forever remembered and cherished as a supreme achievement.  If ever one feels cynical about life, or is experiencing a mundane stretch in one's day to day activities, one can simply imagine the realization of the Apollo 11 mission.  It exemplifies man's desire to explore and ability to achieve.

The Defining Moment of Mankind

I recently sat down to dinner with three close friends.  After some time, the conversation entered into some intriguing domain.  The following question was posed: “What moment in history best defines mankind?”  There are so many instances where man has done something of great significance.  How could one choose just one defining moment?  It would need to be an event of upmost importance – one that changed the course of history in a major way.  It should also reflect the nature of our species and set us apart from other ones.  After some pondering, each of us expressed our respective view on the matter.