Miracle on the Hudson. (Or, how people crave excesses)

I'm a New Yorker, and most of us are used to witnessing the extraordinary, the weird, the big, and the profound. On the other hand, we are no different that many other peoples who want to use superlatives and ill-chosen attributes to describe events. The miracle on the Hudson, was the headline used for the US Airways crash on the Hudson river a few days ago. Within a few minutes of that wintry Thursday afternoon countless heroes emerged from and around the icy waters of the Hudson.

It was indeed very fortunate that all these passengers and crew of that jetliner survived the crash, but why is there a need to describe such an incident invoking the supernatural? Is it something we don't fully understand and cannot be explained by the laws of nature? I think not.

I also have a problem with the definition of hero. Not every person involved in a tragic event or experiencing something unusual, traumatic, etc, is necessarily a hero. For example, those who rushed to the scene of the accidents are not heroes but conscientious people, many professionals who did their job in an exemplary manner. Kudos to all. The captains (yes, there were 2 in the cockpit) performed admirably in putting their airplane on the river. Doctors save lives every day by being professionals and doing their best. Are they heroes?

[hero: mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability; an illustrious warrior; a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities;: one that shows great courage; etc.]

For me, nothing is devalued if exaggerations aren't used. There's no need to elevated the importance of something by piling up irrelevant and incorrect attributes. There's no need to include unrelated qualities and descriptions in order to make a point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [how many exclamation marks do I need to make my point more important?] I think the video above is poignant.

Really, I'm not trying to belittle the whole incident and the extraordinary performance by many individuals. It's time, however, that we emphasize the value in professionalism, good training, and readiness to meet the challenges. Praying or expecting miracles is a vane if not wasteful effort.

A New Journey on a Beaten Path

What I like about science is that it has explained many natural phenomena and, in my opinion, has made the cosmos even more magnificent. There are lots of stuff we don't know, but instead of just making things up--or, reciting the superstitions & ignorance of the past--science provides us with a tool to a greater understanding. This may not be what some people want to hear, but I find the miracle (not in any supernatural term) of human life amazing. We've become the conscience of the universe, in a tiny planet, smaller than the small speck of sand in a cosmic beach.

Here's a video made of 7,000 pictures that shows our spaceship Earth moving in along on a beaten path around our sun. Try to find an unpolluted sky at night and look up. Do that as often as you can. I now live north of NYC, where the light pollution isn't so prevalent, so the night sky is stunning!