Chalk up another win to tee-shirt philosophy, with an added twist.
Many have long said, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." The current version of such qualitative evaluations in life might be, "Just because you can, why on Earth would you want to?"
Upholding that basic concept, especially with that newest wrinkle, may be a sign of intelligent life down here after all, but I'm not blistering the flooring in a panicked hurry to get out and place bets.
Call me a recliner spud if you like, but I don't get the fuss over skydiver Felix Baumgartner. OK, so he was the first skydiver to break the speed of sound. All righty then. Congratulations are due: Huzzah, huzzah. I throw confetti in your general direction. Please pretend it's ticker tape at your own private parade. Best wishes. Live long and prosper. And so on.
Now, do you mind if I get back to this book? It's getting pretty good, right in through here. Sorry -- I don't mean to, uh, taint anyone's Cheerios, but let's look at this for a sec. Stripped to its basics, this is a guy who leaned forward out of a capsule in a pseudo-spacesuit, rode gravity to the ground, and triggered a parachute at the appropriate time.
I don't remember a cure for cancer being in there anywhere, nor a rediscovery of ancient alchemy, or even the indisputable finding of life on another planet. He fell, he deployed a parachute. Ta-Dah!