Who’s really ahead?
Human beings often pride ourselves on being smart—especially when we have formal education, degrees, titles, and professional standing. We’re quick to dismiss the insights of those without them.
Today, I took my first ride in a
@Waymo car—a fully autonomous vehicle. For those unfamiliar, Waymo is a driverless car service that uses AI and advanced sensors to navigate city streets without a human behind the wheel. Yes, the future is now.
As I sat in silent awe, my mind traveled decades back to a dusty road in India. I was riding in the back of a Jeep with my paternal grandmother—may her soul rest in peace—when she turned to me and asked, “Son, in America (which is what they called even Canada), cars don’t have drivers, right?” Everyone burst into laughter. Jokingly, I replied, “Yes, that’s right, they drive themselves.” We all chuckled. She turned to the driver and said, “See? You wouldn’t have a job in America!”
We laughed at her—but she was right.
My maternal grandmother—may her soul rest in peace—used to ask us to turn off the television when she walked by. “Why?” we asked. “Because the men in there can see me,” she said. We laughed again. We told her that wasn’t how TV worked. She would get frustrated but still cover herself and pass quickly.
And yet—today, with
@Zoom, video calls, and surveillance tech, we know that people on the other end of the screen can see us. And even more chilling, we now know our screens and devices can be activated without our knowledge.
These two women, with little or no formal education, intuited truths that took us decades of science and innovation to confirm.
So, who really lacked imagination?
Who was limited by what they were told was “possible”?
And who dared to imagine a world that didn’t yet exist?
We often belittle those who don’t “know”—but sometimes it’s those very people who are free enough to imagine.
Let’s not confuse education with wisdom, or credentials with vision.
Sometimes, the future is best seen through the eyes of those we once thought knew the least.
And now, it is the two of them—my grandmothers—who are having the last laughs from heaven.
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