Icarus.
We've all heard that story, but in case you're one of those people not into mythology and have forgotten or you've been living under a rock for several thousand years, here's a refresher: Icarus was told not to fly too close to the sun by his father, Daedalus, because of the design of the wings his father had made. In his youthful hubris, Icarus tried anyway, but it didn't work out when the wax in the wings melted under the heat of the sun.
The lesson is meant to be listen to your father, and in the original, Icarus is little more than a plot device.
I'd like to rethink this through a modern lens.
What if the issue was not flying too high?
What if the issue was flying too high with the wings his father had made?
Man has since flown to the Moon using a lot of the same ideas that Daedalus used and that birds were born with.
What if the issue was not that Icarus flew too high but that he flew too soon?
What if Icarus had survived that flight? What if he had tasted that bit of flying higher but lived both to understand that flight could be achieved and that more (and different) was possible?
I look at some of what "the kids" are doing these days --very publicly with gun control after the Parkland shooting, but also on a smaller scale with students I've seen out and about in my job and beyond. I am heartened to see that youth does not lose its hubris and these "kids" (some of whom are a hell of a lot more articulate than I am, and certainly more savvy about how to share messages) are not afraid to fly. To me, it looks as if rather soaring toward the sun, they're flying higher but smarter, showing the rest of us it is possible, and they're heading in that general trajectory.
What if they're in the process of remaking what came before them?
One thing I've also noticed is that they are concerned about bringing their friends with them and it is generally altruistic. They're unlikely to fly so high they melt when they're also thinking about sharing the experience with other people.
I am encouraged by their flight. I hope they succeed. It's too late for Icarus, but they're using an updated model --it should be something to see.