I’m reading Big Magic by Elizabeth
Gilbert (author of Eat Pray Love) and I’m really enjoying it so far. One thing
she talked about made me think. The section is called “Radiation Canaries.”
She’s making a 30 Rock reference where Jack tells Liz (because Liz is a writer)
she would be basically useless in a post-apocalyptic world. Elizabeth Gilbert, who is
obviously a writer, strangely agrees with Jack. This exchange reminded me of a
conversation I had with my dad a few years ago.
There’s a place in Colorado called
Cheyenne Mountain. If you don’t know what that is- it’s a mountain, duh?
Kidding, well I’m not because it is but inside the mountain is a little
military place called NORAD. (Fun fact on the outside of the mountain is a zoo,
which I don’t know why but has always tickled me. There’s a hardcore military
place, but just outside on the other side is a zoo.) The inside is designed to withstand bombing
and fallout from a nuclear bomb. Somehow the conversation we were having turned
into someone saying “I’d try to get into NORAD in the event of a nuclear war.” (Don’t
bother, you can’t. Unless you’re military and/or have clearance- sorry Civi.) I
said: “In the event of a nuclear war that turns the world into a barren waste
zombie land- I have almost no interest in surviving. But lets pretend we did
get into NORAD. I would be virtually useless.” To which my dad attested. For
those of you who don’t know my dad- he’s incredibly intelligent. Math seems to
come naturally like breathing, and Neil deGrasse Tyson level science makes
sense. He’d be an asset to NORAD post imaginary war world, and probably even
present day. Honestly, if I didn’t look so much like him I’d think I wasn’t his
daughter. I inherited none of that…moving on.
He disagreed that I’d be useless.
At first I thought he meant it as a nod to “I’m a woman and I can repopulate
the earth.” To my surprise I was wrong. He said: “There are plenty of people in
that place that can already do what I do. You have something different than me.
You’re creative, you think differently. That’s an asset.”
So to Elizabeth, I’d have to
respectfully disagree. I believe we would be an asset in a post-apocalyptic
world. There’s a reason literature is taught in schools. It’s important for
society to tell stories. Your imagination can be a powerful tool, and more than
just a radiation canary. As it turns out, the math nerds’ might just need us
after all. What would your job be in a post-apocalyptic world?
