I get a sense from your post that we're most likely roughly the same age and grew up in very similar circumstances. If you do get around to reading this comment, can I just ask;
Do you feel a sense of marvel at where things have ended up, or disappointment?
Thanks for a good read, as comments go.
Both. But, mostly marvel.
I'd certainly hoped we would have made more progress on health and life extension by now (I started reading about it when I was maybe 15), but the progress that has been made is also wonderful. Hell, we're on the verge of an effective vaccine for malaria. That alone would be a miracle that saves about a million lives each year.
And, I'd hoped space exploration would have gotten further. We seem to have lost vision on that front. The space shuttle was a bad idea, and I think it cost a lot of momentum only now being re-gained.
And, flying cars. Where are the flying cars? I guess electric cars are almost as good. Maybe better in terms of reducing the harm humans do the earth.
Which brings me to the disastrous behavior of humanity toward the environment. I was much more optimistic about humanity's willingness and ability to stave off climate change. We have only accelerated the destruction in my lifetime. That's a serious disappointment.
I also think I'm just now beginning to understand some things about the global economy that aren't so flattering to humanity. My lavish developed-nation lifestyle is built on the suffering of people in poorer nations. My computer, phone, shoes, appliances, clothes, etc. are all made by near-slave labor in horrific conditions. Even if I try to minimize my impact in that regard (and I do), it's impossible not to be part of a pretty horrific system. That's disappointing, and not something I knew to think about (because the access to information needed to begin to understand it wasn't within my reach back then).