The Death of Ambitions?

Image from: Link

So it's a pretty ominous post title this time and you might be wondering what I'm on about. Well today I'm chatting about the Cold War and how it drove us to advance. The history books and TV can make this topic seem incredibly boring. But instead, try to think of it this way. The USA and Russia: two rivalling beefy dudes at the gym, both as built as each other but not wanting to throw the first punch (or nuclear bomb) because it will only end in...mutual destruction. Ok, so maybe I'm stretching the analogy a little far but you know what I mean :). Now to make things worse, each muscle man (we're still talking about the USA and Russia here) has their own circle of smaller skinnier men who hang onto their every word (these are the smaller countries who got sucked into the Cold War).

Sputnik 1. Image From: Link

Surprise surprise, this intense rivalry between the USA and Russia sparked unparalleled technological advancements. Yep, even if we're talking on the scale of country vs. country, the same macho male attitude comes into play! From this, the world saw the birth of the Atomic Bomb, X-Rays, power stations, nuclear weaponry. Then came the space race. Each superpower poured resources into their space programs hoping to be the first to access the potential of outer space. Sputnik was the first success, followed by the first man on the moon and now we have the International Space Station. Achievements that were all fuelled by the competition between the USA and Russia to be the ruling power of the world! It might appear to be nothing more than a pissing contest but ultimately, it forced the world to recognise the importance of technology on an international level: the advancement of super planes, the Shuttle Discovery, the building of super cities and the discovery of the DNA structure.

Supercity Shanghai. Image from: Link

The breakup of the USSR (Russia today) marked the end of the Cold War and in some ways, I feel man's hunger to exceed previous technology has slowed. We have since seen the shelving of many great technologies like the Concorde, the space exploration and just yesterday we saw the last flight of the Shuttle Discovery. You can read more bout this on the BBC News by clicking here.


Or for my people who aren't big readers :) watch this Youtube video below.

What does anyone else think?




Selby