Looking at the history of humankind, this very much resembles a river of an immense number of wars, tortures, suffering, genocides, dictators and little men who went into power by killing others and not abiding to basic moral principles but rather shaping the rule of law with the sole aim to retain power. Many countries, including those with a vast population or extending across immense territories, are today closer to medieval systems assisted by modern technology than to real democracies.

However, along came progress, the very same progress which brought us 
western medicine. 

One remarkable achievement which changed our existence have been painkillers. For centuries, so-called ‘doctors’ were performing rudimental amputations of human parts without providing anything to prevent pain. When the first anaesthetics were invented, a long period started to find the right doses and procedures, but many passed away, not waking up after the anaesthetic. 

Medicines also brought us new cures which helped to live longer and, probably, in better shape as showcased by the increase in life expectancy. Global famine has also significantly declined in percentage of the human population. Transport and communication have been completely revolutionised, so the way we produce food, clothes and any item used in our lives. New forms of entertainment and services have been flourishing. 

Our body represents just a partial and physical limit in everyone’s journey: individual inner strength, perseverance and ideas are what allow us to overcome such limits and make our lives special

Progress though, has not always proven good. Nagasaki and Hiroshima episodes demonstrated what the scientific achievements in the hands of the military can do to unarmed civilians. Wars, in general, have always been a strength demonstration of the latest technologies available. Global warming, which might cause an immense devastation, is fulfilled by our global system driven by the GDP growth paradigm: to keep increasing our productive system, we need to consume more, and we burn more fuel to have the necessary energy to fulfil the growing production. In a vicious cycle, this leads to the release of more CO2, in a no- stopping spiral with severe greenhouse consequences. 

While for centuries the volcanic emissions have been re-equilibrated by the mechanics of our atmosphere, our industries and household habits have broken the multi-billions years’ equilibrium of the planet. If the world would limit the increase in temperature by 1.5/2�C by the end of the century, 70 to 80 per cent of the oil reserves would become useless. Would Opec countries back this re-evaluation of progress and especially would the world consumers reassess their economic priorities? 

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the limits of globalisation and made us thinking at the risks of bacteriological wars and of the viruses resilient to existing cures. Risks are also linked to uncontrolled AI (artificial intelligence) and self-learning machines able to replace humans, likely becoming in a matter of a few decades more intelligent than animated species, including us, the Sapiens. 

Progress is indeed a double-edged sword which has improved our daily lives but made our existence more in peril. For a moderate optimism about the progress in the humankind journey, we should be illuminated and inspired by true leaders; often those are not political figures but from the civil society.

Undoubtedly one is called Alex Zanardi. He was practically dead once in 2001 when his F1 vehicle lost control and was hit by a full speed, 320 km/h, arriving racing car. 

Zanardi’s body was split in two and his upper part, the one that he was left with, was fighting to survive with only a litre of blood. In the desperate aftermath of the accident, Zanardi had seven strokes and 11 surgical procedures. 

While no one questions his talent as a Formula 1 driver, Zanardi’s true legend started when he returned home. A few days later, he started playing hide and seek with his son and nephew. Just after, the latter told his mother he wanted to become a Formula 1 pilot and to be without legs as his uncle. 

Two years after the accident, Zanardi was racing in cars again but it was in the para-cycling sport where he never stopped shining. He won 16 gold medals among world championships and paralympic games and several silver ones. The last gold one was in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, aged 50, still too strong and too inspired for any rival. 

Zanardi also became a charismatic public TV figure. His positive attitude against life adversities, constant reassuring smile and unique inner strength have consecrated him as a true example on how men and women should face life’s challenges. 

Technology was behind the car where Zanardi lost his legs while medicine helped him to survive. The strength and the moral message with which 
Zanardi spent his second life, reborn after the accident, made him an inspirational figure for millions. 

In the last days, Zanardi had another terrible accident while going with his handbike around Italy to motivate people to stand up after COVID-19. A whole country is now praying for him to defeat death twice. 

Neuralink, the latest initiative, of the visionary and brilliant Elon Musk, who recently made enormous progresses with SpaceX to send humans to Mars, has been conceived to implant chips in humans brains to boost human capabilities in order not to be bypassed by machines but rather to preparing the humankind for the new challenges posed by AI and the conquest of space. Musk is one of those brilliant minds which made an early introduction to the public with the success of Paypal. 

Paypal disrupted electronic payments and triggered a revolution facilitating online transactions. Musk’s real success was though yet to come. After selling his stake in Paypal, he founded Tesla and SpaceX. Tesla has forced major car companies to introduce electric engines at a fast pace to compete, leading to less pollution and CO2. 

When he founded Tesla, the venture looked like an impossible challenge: competing with some of the largest global industrial conglomerate, backed by governments, as per Volkswagen or Renault, which have been in the business before World War II. Tesla has recently reached a capitalisation larger than 
Toyota, the global leader. 

Moving from the ground to the sky, SpaceX has been even a greater challenge. If Nasa couldn’t go to Mars because the federal government couldn’t spend the half trillion dollars to fund the Nasa requests for the red planet programme, how could a private individual, starting from scratch, succeed? 

Musk was inspired by the idea that conquering space is a must for long-term human kind survival. SpaceX is used by Nasa for many missions and already made history; Neuralink will probably soon too. As our body cannot resist to long space travels without being irreparably damaged, Neuralink goes in the direction to augment human capabilities beyond what nature has given us.

These elements evidenced that our body represents just a partial and physical limit in everyone’s journey: individual inner strength, perseverance and ideas are what allow us to overcome such limits and make our lives special. Thanks to, but also in view of the courage and strength of individuals like Zanardi and to the vision of people like Musk, we can remain moderately optimistic about our future.