Goodluck, Mr. Gorsky!

Being the first is not really like the chicken and egg story about who came first.

Its about road building, which I am told is not about engineering but usage. Chinese writer Lu Xun  (1881 – 1936) expresses it perfectly – “What is a road? It comes of trampling places where no road was before, of opening up wasteland where only brambles grew. There were roads in the past; in the future also there should always be roads.’ 

Who takes the first step which invites others? Especially where there is no road?

That is what differentiates those who take risks from those who do not. In pre-historic times, risk taking was not optional. It was an issue of survival. You had to be the first to kill the monkey who tried to steal your wife. Neither was there a question of negotiation with the dinosaur which wanted you as dinner.

The development of our neo-cortex, specifically the frontal lobes of our brains, has resulted in the reduction of impulsive risk taking behavior. The neo-cortex also controls anticipation of the future.Foresight helps in survival., taking calculated risks or  avoiding  risks. But of our capacity for evaluating future consequences we have been able to create a more relaxed environment that has been utilized for more wonderful things like producing more babies or technological advancements.

But the natural fallout is a large number of people who have lost their ability for taking risks altogether. You can see them everywhere – hiding in the depths of bureaucracy or the heights of authority, or camouflaged in the shadows of dependency. They are people who carry umbrellas in anticipation of sun or rain alike. They already know why a new idea can die before it’s even tested. They are the walking encyclopedias of why it won’t work, or won’t happen.

But the inherent problem with the evolutionary process is that it continues forever. So if our species is to survive, risk taking must continue even if it exists as a rare quality in a small minority, So while the majority continue about worrying about keeping up with the Sharmas and the Vermas, there have to be some who have to be brave about going beyond their backyards.

Listen to this.

On July 20, 1969, as commander of the Apollo 11 lunar module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,”  were televised to earth and heard by millions.

But just before he re-entered the lander, he made the enigmatic remark “good luck, Mr. Gorsky.” many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs.

Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the “Good luck, Mr. Gorsky” statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.

On July 5, 1995, in Tampa bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question.

In 1938 when he was a kid in a small mid-west town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in his neighbor’s yard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky.

"Sex! You want sex?! You’ll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!”

I know Mr. Gorsky quite well.

Now please don’t ask me who Mr. Armstrong is. I still haven’t quite figured out that as yet!

Copyright © 2014, Lima Sehgal
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