Answer is probably 'No,' still I wonder ...

Has there ever been an animal so cute and adorable that a predator decided not to eat it? (“Please? Look into my large, universally trusting eyes …”)

If time-travel were possible, and people could go back at the end of their lives to tell their younger selves a few things to do better, would history see an up-tick in college retention, volunteer work, voting, progressive political action, and environmental consciousness—alongside its increase in sexually-transmitted infections, skydiving, and world tourism?

When humans are no longer the premiere dictators of this natural world, will the next species up piece our practical wisdom and heroic stories back together, along with our bones and funny machines? (“And if you'll look to the left: this is called a Ferris wheel—they used to sit in these and spin around for amusement …”)

If women were in charge of social-political world affairs, would men still be allowed to go without shaving on weekends and wear comfortably ratty clothes outdoors?

Has anyone ever been wearing a really tight G-string, and farted so intensely that it played a note? (“Sally! Hurry up, we can still make it in line for free beers if {Blllrrrng} … What was tha?-eew!”)

This is how things go ...

(orig. Graphite drawings by Sam Durant, 2004 -- "Routine Action" & "Boys throwing rocks at British forces, Belfast, 1976")

STEP 1: A person goes to the gym, runs on a treadmill, says' “This is great!”

“You know what would make it better?” they say, “A television!”

STEP 2: A person goes to the gym and watches television on the treadmill.

You know what would make this better?” they think to themselves quietly, “A couch.”

STEP 3: A person considers going to the gym. Instead, saves some travel-time

and stays home, watching the show they would have watched on the treadmill.

*

STEP 1: A visionary has a moment of clarity, sees the resolution—“If I can gather a small group, mortally devoted to to ending violence, we could create a healing sanctuary in this violent world.”

STEP 2: That visionary seeds and fosters a community based on empathy and sustainability.

It attracts many who are tired of the larger society's callousness and waste. Together, these people prove to the world that school can be enjoyable and pragmatic, work can be rewarding and creative, life can be simple and purposeful, love can be unqualified and free.

STEP 3: The national economy recovers a bit, and there is a 10-year period where no major wars break out. Elders in the community tell stories of how things were. But they grow old.

Their children go to the movies and fall in love, and listen to club music, and wonder why their co-workers hated school so much, and worry that their corporate employers don't care about them as people, and vote for a “small government / deregulation / privatize healthcare” politician, who is well-tailored around his obesity and funds attack ads and cheats on his wife, because he promises to lower taxes.

*

STEP 1: I dreamed up this great idea for a movie. I wrote out the plot with great enthusiasm;

I built out the scenes with determination; I filmed half those scenes; I edited two of them.

STEP 2: “Maybe this movie wasn't such a great idea,” I began to ponder. But!

I have a lovely idea for a child's book... and a catchy song worth recording... and a PhD dissertation...

STEP 3: I write a blog post about the 'progress' of humans, questioning that progress's ultimate value;

even its ultimate morality. “Now I don't feels so bad about my half-done projects,” I say to myself.