In the latest of Newsroom's series on what influential Kiwis are wishing for in 2023, the Asia New Zealand Foundation's executive director Simon Draper writes about the technological 'game changers' he'd like to see, and why we need to plan for the longer term
Comment: It is perhaps part of my passage to late middle age that my expectations for the new year generally seem to get lower, rather than higher. Perhaps it is because having two functioning knees didn’t seem that important when I was 25, but it sure as hell does now.
But for the readers of Newsroom I am going to cast my ambitions high and (in a break from my normal form) optimistically.
Writing this feels like having the genie pop out of a lamp asking for your three wishes (hint: wish number one – ask for infinitely more wishes. This thought obsessed me when I was 10 years old).
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With a limit on wishes prescribed by the genie editors of Newsroom, I thought I would ask for four and move from the global to the more personal.
When my 98-year-old grandmother died in 1996, I marvelled that in her lifetime she had seen the advent of the car, motorcycle, airplane, moon landing, penicillin, polio vaccine, chemotherapy, telephones, faxes, lasers, computers, the internet, Wi-Fi and nuclear energy – plus two world wars.
All pretty unimaginable when she was born in 1898.
So, frankly as a boomer I’ve been a bit underwhelmed with technological developments in my lifetime.
I mean, where is my “teleporter” promised by Star Trek, or even my Back to the Future hoverboard? The Jetsons way over-promised.
1. Game-changing tech
So, my first wish for 2023 is that we discover a truly remarkable new technology. A fundamental game changer.
For instance: cracking nuclear fusion so the world’s energy problems (and they are many) are solved – and no not a tantalising edging closer, but really cracking it; an immunology drug that eradicates all forms of cancer; a way for space travel that masters the limits of the speed of light; a final unified theory or even a cheap, permanent way to sequester greenhouse gases. Any of the above would change everything.
I am aiming high because if all I can say about the technological marvels of my lifetime is that ‘TikTok flossing’ went global, or I could buy groceries without leaving home, I’d be disappointed.
We seem less ambitious than I remember and for those few New Zealanders who engage in the political discussions of the day, they increasingly seem to be about how to divide our rather small tax pie, rather than how we grow economically so we can afford the hospitals, doctors, schools, and infrastructure we want.
2. Ambition and optimism
Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, I’d like to see us regain some of the ambition and optimism I have a vague memory of growing up in.
The nature of the people who have come to New Zealand over the centuries, and the landscape that shapes us, means we are often practical, fair-minded, grounded people.
There are many upsides to this. But there are some downsides – our practicality means we often don’t think, let alone plan, for the longer term.
We seem less ambitious than I remember and for those few New Zealanders who engage in the political discussions of the day, they increasingly seem to be about how to divide our rather small tax pie, rather than how we grow economically so we can afford the hospitals, doctors, schools, and infrastructure we want.
As a frequent visitor to Asia, I can only marvel how in my lifetime countries have redeveloped so much and raised so many people out of poverty. Many millions of people now have enviable lifestyles – that would have been impossible only a decade or two ago.
So, in summing up wish number two, it’s that we have a collective vision for the New Zealand we want to be, and drive optimistically towards that.
3. Generosity of spirit
My third wish relates to the community level across the country: my hope is that we rediscover some of the generosity of spirit that people have shown over years in times of challenge. It feels we have run low on this as 2023 comes to an end. This applies to me as much as it does to the community, I am part of.
My passing observation of history is that really great things happen to lift people’s lives when communities show a generosity of spirit, rather than sniping at each other.
So, what does that practically mean? Well, it is that the noisy, shrill, shallow types who dominate the media and social media landscape are crowded out by thoughtful, positive, smart people that inspire us and bring us together and drive us to collectively do great things for the country.
More succinctly, remembering ‘an empty can makes the most noise’. My resolution for 2022 was to 'talk less, listen more' and I failed at that!
4. Discipline
Finally, the last wish for me personally is that I rediscover some of the discipline I acquired pre-Covid.
Both mentally and physically – so more reading of the stoics, less doom scrolling, less procrastination, and more time grinding on the bike, less time opening the fridge door.
This is possibly the least likely of my wishes to occur, but as I said, I am aiming high!
