Our successes have been so great and so rapid that, within 20

Hearken, O children of the future, to the words of Caterina Fake, who spoke with both wonder and gravity, observing the swift march of humanity’s ingenuity: “Our successes have been so great and so rapid that, within 20 years, we've gotten a third of the world's population online, shrunk our computers to the size of our hands, and connected each to each.” These words echo like the whispers of the winds over ancient plains, telling of a world transformed by the ceaseless striving of human spirit. In them lies both a testament to human ambition and a warning: when progress surges like a river swollen with rain, we must guide its current with wisdom and courage.

Consider first the magnitude of our successes. To bring a third of all humans into a digital communion in but two decades is no small feat. Like the builders of the great pyramids, who marshaled thousands of hands to lift stone to heaven, modern humanity has marshaled circuits, code, and courage to craft a new domain—one invisible, yet boundless. From the dusty streets of rural villages to the glittering towers of metropolitan cities, people now reach across oceans and deserts, touching one another through technology that shrinks distance and time. Here, Fake does not merely count numbers; she invokes a sense of awe at the human capacity to dream and to build.

Behold also the miracle of miniaturization, where computers once vast as rooms now fit upon the palm of a hand. This echoes the ancient sorcery of the alchemists, who sought to transform base matter into gold; yet here, the transformation is real, wrought not by magic but by unrelenting skill and intellect. The smartphone, that tiny oracle of knowledge and connection, is both scepter and mirror, giving power and reflection to every soul who wields it. In it, one sees the culmination of countless generations of inventors, from Charles Babbage’s engines of thought to Alan Turing’s visions of mechanical minds, all now gathered in a device light enough to hold, yet heavy with potential.

The words speak also of interconnection, the weaving of humanity into a vast, luminous web. No longer are men and women isolated by geography or circumstance; the internet has made them neighbors in thought, commerce, and culture. Recall the story of Malala Yousafzai, whose voice, carried by these very networks, awakened the conscience of a world. A single message, transmitted across continents, inspired millions. Fake’s reflection teaches that our tools are not merely instruments—they are extensions of our collective will, our shared destiny.

Yet, let us not be blind to caution. Great and rapid successes bear their own shadows. The same network that connects a child in Pakistan to a scholar in Boston can also harbor falsehood and division. It is as if Prometheus had stolen fire: the gift illuminates, but also burns. Fake’s words call us to mindful stewardship, urging that we temper our admiration with responsibility. In progress, there lies both promise and peril; in connection, both knowledge and distraction.

We see history mirrored here in other transformative epochs. The printing press, in its own swift revolution, brought literacy to millions, but also unleashed pamphlets of sedition and falsehood. The steam engine shrank the world with railroads and factories, yet exploited men and nature alike. So too does Fake’s observation remind us that technology is neither good nor evil, but a reflection of the hearts and hands that wield it. Humanity must guide it wisely, lest speed outrun virtue.

Therefore, the lesson resounds as loudly as a clarion on the mountaintop: celebrate the audacity of invention, honor the leaps of the mind, but temper them with wisdom and compassion. Reach out to the world, share knowledge, and build bridges where there are chasms. Yet pause also, to understand the consequences of every line of code, every device, every connection. In this lies the enduring truth of Fake’s insight: greatness is not measured only by speed or scale, but by the care with which we use it.

Let each listener take from these words a guiding principle: embrace progress, connect with purpose, and wield innovation as a tool of light rather than a weapon of chaos. In your own hands lies the power to extend these marvels—not merely to marvel at them. Teach, create, share, and innovate, but always with eyes wide open to the weight of your deeds. For in the swift currents of our modern age, those who act with wisdom shall leave footprints that endure, and those who act recklessly shall be swept away by the very waves they once sought to ride.