Thinking Out Loud: An Open Letter to Leonardo DaVinci
When the vision comes true, is the visionary surprised?
Right up front: I’m dragging butt today. The fatigue magic of late Covid is really playing games with me. So, I’m once again dipping back into my files, this time coming up with a note I wrote Leonardo DaVinci something like 20 years ago. I have yet to get an answer. However, I figure as soon as he invents his version of e-mail, I’ll be hearing from me. He came up with lots of other grand ideas so, why not?
Like everyone else, I’m in awe of his creativity and talents. I also love the fact that he was a kindred soul in that he left far more uncompleted projects than those he completed. I doubt if my kids will be in awe of the unfinished projects I leave behind. Oh, well! Leo’s notebooks are a feast of imagination courtesy of a mind that knew no limitations. And that was in the late 1500!! I’m jealous! So, what follows is something I sent to him.
Hi, Leo,
Yeah, it’s me again. We talked some years back, but I thought it was time you knew that suddenly you’re a raving celebrity. Books, movies, TV shows (that’s theater in a box), you name it. DaVinci this, DaVinci that. I hate to say it, but you’ve become so popular that some of your old friends, me included, are a little put off. You’re suffering the Harley Syndrome: you’re too popular and those of us who always looked up to you as a hero feel as if we’re sharing you with far too many people who don’t really understand or appreciate you.
Today’s world wants to put people into cubby holes, and label you as an artist. Or a scientist. Or something else that fits a tidy definition. They don’t seem to understand that it’s really not necessary for a man to be a given thing. Today, a guy like you, who functions on so many different levels, has a tough time because they don’t fit into a given slot. This makes it difficult for some to find a job. Most of those folks eventually do the same thing you did: They invent their own job and become so good at it the world comes to you rather than you having to go to them.
You’d get a kick out of what’s happened to the flying machine concept you messed with in so many of your drawings. It has exploded to the point that it too has become so popular that it’s taken entirely too for granted. When I say that, I mean too many people think it’s flying is a forever thing. It has been with us for more than 100 years but who knows? The next time I write you there may be nothing in the air but these humungous winged tubes that carry hundreds of people at a time. No, I mean that: hundreds of people at a time! You wouldn’t believe it! However, the small, personal flying machines? I fear for their survival.
Even though your brain was always cooking at very high levels, there was some part of you that was really a grassroots kind of guy. You saw the details at the lowest possible level, and I think that’s where your flying machines came from. You spent so much time lounging around in front of the barn sketching, you finally figured out how the swallows and the hawks did it. That’s why I think you’d enjoy the lower end of what we call “aviation” today. The grassroots guys fly some of the coolest little machines you’ve ever seen…oh, wait...you haven’t seen an airplane yet. Although our flying machines aren’t nearly as elegant as those you sketched, they work. In truth, we just took your concepts and kept trying different combinations until we found we could harness fire to produce power and then use wing shapes to temporarily fool gravity.
You’d have a difficult time believing how much money and technology has been put into various space programs lately. Back when we were going to the moon, we...oh, wait…you may not have known that either. Sorry! ‘Happened years ago. It was really cool! Our President set a goal and we did it. Simple as that! Then, the government somehow got confused and we lost our intellectual inertia. The political thing hasn’t changed since your day. There has never been a situation of any kind in any age that has been improved by introducing politicians into it. So, because we stopped focusing on the stars, here we are, a generation or two later, looking dumb as stumps and having to farm a lot of our work out overseas because we don’t have the trained talent here. We do, however, have our bright spots. You’d love the stuff this guy E. Musk is doing. He’s following in your footsteps. Really a fun, creative guy!
You’d also love this guy Rutan. He used napkins the same way you used notebooks. He’s a free thinker and really stuck it to the Establishment because he got so much done for so little. He’s retired now, but I think he still makes some bureaucrats nervous because they know he has a well-developed ability to make them look bad.
I don’t think the general attitude of the population has changed much since you were around. There are a lot more of us, but the vast majority still thinks that ideas like flying are outrageous. Even though they see flying machines overhead daily, they just don’t have the courage, or what ever is necessary, to take that first step and make the third dimension a part of their personal lives. This is a shame because flying machines have become so easy to operate, practically everyone can do it.
I really wish you could go to some of what we call “fly-ins.” You’d love ‘em for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that most of folks there have your sense of adventure and curiosity. What ever it was that invaded your imagination and made you want to design flying machines has really taken ahold of some of these people. I swear, some of them are so committed to the concept of flight, they must be part bird. I’d love to see what being around the fly-in crowd would do for your imagination. There’d be no holding you back.
As for me, I’m one of the lucky ones. I have my own flying machine that literally doesn’t know upside down from right side up, so I’m totally unlimited. I’m like a sea otter up there. Talk about freedom!
Anyway, I just thought you’d like to know that you’re remembered. And missed. We need more people like you.
bd
Just In Case you’ve missed some of Leo’s stuff! He did hundreds more.
"I do have to admit, he hasn't written back yet." - great line, Budd. Hope you're 100% soon. -Jeff