Even from a distance I could tell it was Mr. Grant, though I tried to reject the reality of it. With clenched fists I stopped a few feet from where he sat. He was relaxed, his tie loosened. “Sit down, John,” he said in a matter-of-fact way, as if he had been expecting me, and perhaps he was.
My pent-up frustration was too much to contain.
“What the hell kind of game are you playing?” The torrent began, and once the valve was open it was impossible to shut off. “What makes you think you can jerk people around like that? I worked my ass off writing that speech. At least you could have told me it was crap before making a jackass out of me. I thought you wanted to share all of these insights with Congress, and by extension the entire world. Did you chicken out or something? And decided to read that piece-of-shit speech I wrote weeks ago. Why did you bother to tell me all that stuff about Obligations and Endowments? Do you like fucking with people?” Mr. Grant listened impassively.
The outburst felt good. And then it felt awful. I stood silently for a while, breathing heavily, and red faced. Finally, I slumped down on the bench next to him with tears coming from my eyes. I swiped a sleeve across my face like some eight-year-old kid whose bike had been stolen.
“Anything else you would like to add?”
When I didn’t reply, he continued, “You first need to know, John, that whatever happened in there today,” gesturing to the Capitol dome, “is of minor importance compared to the knowledge you have acquired in the past few weeks. The insights we discussed go beyond the world of politics, and therefore, cannot be appreciated at the political level—at least not yet. This knowledge we now share may well influence the future, but in the back and forth of political horse trading, this kind of insight has little relevance. That’s neither bad nor good. It’s simply the way it is. To share these ideas with my colleagues would be like trying to explain the inner workings of a Boeing 747 turbofan engine to someone who just wants to know if his flight to Chicago will leave on time. They are just not going to care enough even if they could somehow comprehend the message.
“As long as we have to work within the current political system, arguments for space development, like everything else, will always have to be couched in parochial and nationalistic terms. The occasional reference to broad long-term implications is little more than creative flourish. I knew this crowd was not ready for the kind of speech you so admirably prepared. Nothing would have given me greater pleasure than to read your words and know they were falling on receptive ears. The truth is that most people, and especially Congress people, are not evolved enough to truly hear that message.”
He moved closer, and his voice softened further, “I had you write that speech for your sake, John. It was a way for you to capture the essence of what you have learned, and to some degree internalize it. There is no book I can give you that contains all of it, at least not one that integrates the various theories in the principles of the Obligation. You now have it in your head, and in your heart.” Mr. Grant’s soothing words calmed my agitation. My anger was replaced by shame for my disrespectful tirade a moment earlier.
Having regained my composure, I asked, “If it’s pointless to discuss these ideas with your colleagues, then how will this future of space migration ever happen? What’s the use of some truth about an Obligation if no one knows about it?”
“Those are good questions. Just because Congress may not be ready for this message right now doesn’t mean it won’t be at some point in the future. This kind of language needs to percolate up from individuals who embrace this perspective. Eventually, fulfilling the Obligation will take the form of legislative proposals, and Congress will debate those proposals on their local, national and global merits. If a large enough constituency for such ideas can effectively demand that government take action, new policies and programs will be adopted—we’ll build those colonies in space. This is, of course, how the legislative process has always worked. The only things that ever change are the interests and demands of the people. A more evolved constituency will insist on more evolved action from its government. The emerging perspective of the Obligation will represent a new collective priority that Congress, and other government bodies in other countries, will eventually be forced to address and contend with. You see?” He paused for my reaction and laughed, “Sorry if all this sounds a bit wonky.”
The wonkiness of it was more than fine with me. Putting the Obligation in a congressional context was a comfort zone that I could get my head around. As Mr. Grant continued, however, my mind eased once again into familiar feeling relaxed attentiveness.
“But when will this all take place? You talk about this being an imperative, yet there is little evidence that Congress or NASA are anywhere near taking steps to make the vision a reality.”
This made him laugh, “You’re absolutely right, of course. That’s why it’s important to be clear that it will not necessarily be NASA and the U.S. Congress who will be leading the way toward space settlement. I suppose it’s possible they will, but there is simply too much institutional inertia at NASA for it to be the right vehicle to lead our full transition to a multi-planetary existence. It may be Evan Phillips and his kind who will lead the way. The entrepreneur, unfettered by bureaucratic baggage, and driven by passion and high ideals, will solve the riddle of space colonization. Or perhaps there is some yet-to-be-created economic mechanism that will need to be invented in order for such a future to come into being.
“The good news is that our collective consciousness is being propelled to take action in the direction of space migration whether anyone wants it to or not.”
“Propelled?...By what?”
“Ah, now that gets us to one of the most important topics of all. We are propelled toward space migration by the Evolutionary Impulse.”
“Evolutionary Impulse?” He took a moment to smile at the question, locking my gaze.
“We haven’t discussed this concept yet, at least not in specific detail. The Evolutionary Impulse is integral to everything you have learned so far. First, let’s review.” He picked up a stick and in the dirt and gravel in front of the bench he drew two vertical lines side by side. The lines were about two feet long, spaced a foot apart at the base, flaring apart to about two feet at the top. I recognized the diagram as the one he had drawn for me in Arizona, sitting at the picnic table while we ate danish and coffee.
“We’ve discussed the universal forces of expansion and complexity, which correspond to the male/female and Yin/Yang dimensions of life.” With the stick he pointed to the left line as representing the expansion force and the right line as representing complexity. “What I haven’t mentioned is that these two opposing forces create evolutionary tension, which precedes and gives rise to creation in all its forms.
“We also discussed how these forces are expressed through human consciousness in the form of three pairs of Endowments: the Wanderer and the Settler; the Inventor and the Builder; and the Visionary and the Protector.” As he named each of the Endowments, he made a dot with the stick in the space outside the two lines. He arranged the dots in three pairs, with the Wanderer and the Settler dots situated in parallel positions near the base of each line. The subsequent pairs held ascending parallel positions above the first two. The dots along the left line represented the Endowments associated with the expansion line: the Wanderer, the Inventor and the Visionary. And the dots along the right line coincided with the complexity: the Settler, the Builder and the Protector.
“The Endowments evolved within our consciousness over some period of time in our early development. We illustrate the emergence of the Endowments as a spiral, a process of oscillation between the opposing forces.” With his stick he drew a spiral up from the base of the lines and between them. “And we said that each pair is an evolved form of the one before it.”
He paused to make sure I was following him. “The Evolutionary Impulse is the force that drives the whole train.” With that he carved a deep line right up through the middle of the spiral. “The Evolutionary Impulse is that urge to create on all levels in the universe. It is the urge for a star to come into being, and it is the urge for a piece of art to emerge on a canvas. It is the engine that gives power to the Endowments. It was the driving force to create the Endowments, and will impel our action until the Obligation is fulfilled. And it will sustain us into the next evolutionary stage, whatever that might be.”
Down the Mall path came two evening runners, both women. One had large breasts which were hard not to notice as they bounced freely under the tight spandex top. As they passed, Mr. Grant chuckled. “The human sex drive is perhaps the best example of the Evolutionary Impulse at play. The species must propagate or die. It’s very important that men and women are sexually attracted to one another. By responding to that basic urge, you are responding to the Evolutionary Impulse to reproduce.
“In the most basic sense, it was the Evolutionary Impulse that started the whole universe in motion from the Big Bang on. In this context, Darwinian evolution comprises just a small subset of an infinitely larger picture. When something emerges from nothing we call it an act of creation. While the act of creation describes the moment something is made manifest in the physical world, the Evolutionary Impulse is the guiding force behind just what that “something” will be and how it will emerge into form. In other words, the Evolutionary Impulse is the intelligent energy that nudges creation into specific directions.”
He paused. By this point, I had thoroughly slipped into heightened attentiveness. There was a question forming in my mind, but he did not wait for me to ask it.
“Each evolutionary advancement—the emergence of new species of animal, plant, or other life forms—occurs in response to the Evolutionary Impulse. Prior to the moment of creation, the Evolutionary Impulse generates a certain tension or pressure on the physical world that prepares the way for a particular act of creation. This process is occurring in every moment in every square centimeter of the universe. It certainly occurs with the emergence of a new species, but actually is the intelligent energy that literally sustains everything. We see its work with each birth of a child. We see it in the formation of stars. We also see it in the advance of civilization, technology, culture and, as we’ve been discussing, in the development of consciousness.
“The tension that the Evolutionary Impulse imposes on human consciousness has helped guide our development out of the caves and into skyscrapers. The pull toward space migration is just one expression of this evolutionary tension. We see it is clearly present in the consciousness of the six individuals you interviewed. It is nothing less than a primordial demand to move off this planet and become a multi-planetary species.
“Someone might say that they’re interested in space travel and would like to work for NASA. If that person is talented enough he might live his dream and become an astronaut. If he lacks the requisite talent and skills, he might otherwise seek to build a career somewhere in the aerospace field. At a minimum, that individual will follow each launch with great interest, and perhaps join groups and write his congressman to keep NASA well funded. The important thing is that the Evolutionary Impulse coursing through the astronaut and the amateur lobbyist are no different. Although space advocates may feel that their passion is self-generated, it is actually a response to an encoded stimulus that is part of their being, which they are not even aware of.
“When Armstrong stepped on the moon the world was united in awe and wonder. It wasn’t merely a Cold War victory as some historians have concluded. Something momentous happened. A milestone had been reached. And the reaction of billions of people went much deeper than could be understood in technical rational terms. That global moment of euphoria was an expression of our movement toward fulfilling the Obligation.”
Now he paused long enough for me to react. “But that excitement about the moon missions didn’t last. The public got bored after Apollo 11, and the launches were no longer headline news.”
“Is that really so surprising?” At that moment, the sound of a child’s yelp drew our attention. About a hundred feet down the path a mother firmly held the hand of a pre-school boy. She pulled him along while he resisted, whimpering that he did not want to go home. She was clearly angry and fed up with the uncooperative child. It was getting late and the boy was no doubt tired and cranky. Mr. Grant chuckled at the scene. “I’ve certainly been there,” he whispered to himself, recollecting his own parental frustration.
“When there is a new birth, everyone is excited and drawn to the wonder of a new life joining our family. After the initial event of the birth, however, the child eventually becomes just another kid. There are diapers to change. You have to child-proof everything. They throw tantrums on the Mall. The first moon landing was a lot like a newborn. When we first saw it, it was wonderful, incredible, a miracle. After that it was still nice. You still believed in the mission, of course. But, what about the football game or the ‘I Love Lucy' rerun you wanted to watch? How can you blame the networks or the public for Apollo’s drop in viewership? But the lack of newsworthiness never made the missions any less worthy. Just as being in the world for a while doesn’t diminish the value of any of God’s children, even when they get to be a pain in the ass.” The mother and uncooperative child were some distance down the Mall, the boy’s outcries still audible.
“God’s children,” I repeated, sparking a question. I hesitated, but I needed to know. “The Evolutionary Impulse sounds like the guiding hand of God. You used the term “intelligent energy” and said that the Evolutionary Impulse guides the creation of things in the universe. Are you saying there is a God?”
Mr. Grant leaned back, drew a deep breath raising his eyebrows. “Now, that’s a loaded question. To say there is an intelligent directionality to the evolution of the universe is not to say that that force is the essence of what traditional religions accept as God. Remember we spoke earlier about the universe unfolding according to a DNA blueprint. The potential for human existence preceded our arrival. We have free will, but at the same time we are guided by the Evolutionary Impulse to accomplish certain things, including being stewards of the planet as well as migrating beyond it. You see, no one, or any god, is forcing us to be interested in space travel; therefore we have free will to deny it—and certainly many do. However, it is part of our collective DNA to be very interested in such things.
“As for the existence of God--I believe the mystery that the prophets and sages have been speaking about for millennia is still very much intact. As significant as the revelations of the Obligation may be, it is nothing more than peeling back one more layer of the onion. There will always be greater depths to fathom. And the fact that humanity may have a particular symbiotic relationship to its host planet does not imply that there is not yet some additional divine or genetic purpose for our existence. There may well be. But, on the question of our divinity and of God in general, I am afraid to say, I am completely unqualified to speak. On the other hand, could anything be more divine than serving in a role similar to that of the bumble bees?”
He shifted his body on the bench, turning it to face me. “What’s important to emphasize here is that the Evolutionary Impulse is driving us to find the way into space. There are differences of opinion on how that will best be achieved, and by whom. But these debates, and even the space race itself, are moving civilization as a whole in the same direction. We may not have made all the right decisions so far. Certainly, had we maintained focus and funding after Apollo, it’s perfectly conceivable that by today astronauts would be exploring the far reaches of the solar system, and we would be well on our way toward building self-sustaining human settlements. But, we were distracted by other priorities and global challenges—issues we could say relate to the Primary Obligation. It’s not that the interest in space development had diminished. We simply couldn’t get past other roadblocks of the last few decades. In fact, it’s amazing how successful NASA has been considering the political challenges and modest public interest.
“This impulse to expand into space is like water rolling downhill; the water will trickle in many directions before it finds the right groove, which becomes the brook and eventually the mighty river. The U.S./Soviet space race of the sixties is a good example of this point. Historians will say it was Cold War tensions that provided the impetus for the moon race. While it’s true, without the Cold War we might not have had Apollo, it is also important to remember that the desire for space travel was a fire in the minds of many people long before tension with the Soviet Union created a rationale for demonstrating mastery in missile technology. The original rocket scientists like Goddard and von Braun dreamt of space travel for the benefit of all mankind, not so one nation could show technological superiority over another. The first space visionaries were expressing the ideas that trickled down the mountainside, finding the niches and cracks, gathering and pooling. The Cold War merely provided a wide channel through which the current of the Evolutionary Impulse could surge in the direction of the Obligation.”
When he finished, a prolonged silence helped to anchor his words in my mind. I looked down at the diagram Mr. Grant had scratched in the dirt. There was an elegant simplicity about it that made perfect sense.
“So is that it? Is that all of the philosophy of the Obligation?” Once again, I reached for closure. It all seemed complete.
“Yes…and no. But it’s getting late, my friend. And I am late for a fundraiser at the Willard Hotel.”
And without further comment, he stood, smiled at me and walked down the Mall path. I wanted to ask him something else and keep the discussion going, but nothing came out of me as I watched his hulking figure get smaller and disappear.
My anger over the floor speech was a distant memory.
***
I drifted back to my apartment, my head filled with the Evolutionary Impulse. Once again, Mr. Grant had forced me to look beyond the veil of what I knew.
When I arrived at my brownstone, I found Tara sitting on my front steps. “Where have you been? The way you looked in the Capitol…I was worried.” I fell gratefully into her arms.
“Thank you for being here,” I whispered.
As we pulled apart, she asked, “What happened? I called your office. They said you never came back.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I behaved like an idiot. You shouldn’t have paid any attention.” I became aware of how calm I felt, in contrast to Tara’s agitation. All the vitriol of just a few hours ago had completely drained from my body.
Tara looked exceptionally beautiful, with the street lamps and moonlight artfully competing to illuminate her features. I could have looked at her forever.
“What?” She smiled and then laughed. “What are you looking at?” When I didn’t respond right away, wanting only to linger on her features, she said, “Come on. Let’s take a walk.” We strolled to East Capitol Street and turned toward the Hill. I had just covered the distance across the Capitol grounds on my way from the Mall to my brownstone, but was satisfied to walk in any direction Tara wished.
I told her about why I was so upset during floor debate, and how Mr. Grant seemed to appear out of nowhere on Mall. I told her about the Evolutionary Impulse, and how it wasn’t just another term for God. I told her about the boy and his mother and the girl with bouncing boobs, which made her giggle an “oh, my god.” In describing the events, there was no separation between what Mr. Grant said and my own views. Somehow I had arrived at a place where I fully accepted all that he said as truth.
Tara was an impeccable listener. I didn’t want to give her any more information than I sensed she was interested in hearing about. But she was intrigued, and at several points when I felt I had said enough, she prodded for more details.
“And do you, John? Do you feel the ‘Evolution Impulse’ to expand life into space? Because, I can tell you without hesitation, I feel the Evolutionary Impulse, if that’s what you to call it, for planetary stewardship… So, do you, Billy Blastoff?”
Through our laughter, I answered. “Yes, of course I do. I have always known or felt this pull. It’s only now, spending this time with Mr. Grant, that I can fully understand the source of these feelings. I do sense the Evolutionary Impulse for space migration, and…I think I always have. Though I have rarely acted on it, I have always been drawn to space travel activities, particular human spaceflight. Certainly, I was turned on by Star Trek and Star Wars, and certain space toys not to be mentioned.” She laughed, wrapping both her arms around mine in an affectionate squeeze.
“I wasn’t just fine with being assigned space issues for Mr. Grant. I lobbied for it, and was jazzed when I was given the chance to work on space policy.” The perception of my own motives was shifting even as I spoke. “In my head I’ve always seen the space program as absolutely essential to our civilization. Now I know it’s so much more important than I ever imagined.” My personal feelings came out in an unexpected gush. “The truth of the Obligation has always been there, just beyond my conscious mind, like something you catch out of the corner of your eye. It’s only now that I can tell that space travel was always a part of my aspiration.”
Tara listened, flat footed and open mouthed. “Wow, that’s a little intense.”
I grabbed the top of a wrought-iron garden fence feeling a need to steady myself. “It’s like I’m just starting to understand what I’ve always wanted in life. On the one hand I know it’s always been there, but on the other hand it’s like something I’ve never paid any attention to before. Does that make any sense?”
She said nothing and put her arms around my neck. We embraced and kissed again.
We had wandered over to Independence Avenue and we unconsciously began to head back east along Pennsylvania Avenue. After a block or two of silence, Tara said, “There’s something I still can’t reconcile in all of this. If space colonization is truly the Obligation of humanity, then why isn’t the way forward much clearer?” While I considered this question, she elaborated, “I mean, why is there so much confusion and ambivalence and outright hostility with regard to humanity fulfilling this purpose? If we are pre-programed, as Mr. Grant says, to take this giant leap for mankind, why isn’t everyone on board with it already? The fact that you won the vote today for the space station—congratulations by the way—doesn’t mean the space program we have now will lead to the kind of colonization you see in the sci-fi movies. In fact it’s hard to imagine when, if ever, we’ll gather the political will to get back to the moon to visit, never mind colonize it.”
“Mr. Grant said that we had to be ready for this transition. He said it would come from the bottom up, and Congress will pass related legislation once enough of a constituency insisted that they do so. He also said this was not something that could be stopped either… but still, you bring up a good point that I’m not sure if I’m clear on either. Why all the struggle?”
She responded, “I agree with everything that you’ve said, but the simple reality is that space colonization is a minor interest in the global scheme of things. I suspect more people think about alien invasions than the prospects of putting a settlement on Mars.”
Tara had hit on a puzzling and obvious issue that I knew I would have to raise with Mr. Grant. Did this contradiction point to a flaw in the philosophy of the Obligation?
As we walked, I slid my arm around Tara’s waist and gently pulled her closer. She responded by putting her arm around me as well.