Perseverance and Hope Honda's FCX Clarity # 8 In the Series
This week Honda brought out its first fuel-cell car, the FCX Clarity. Fuel-cell vehicles do not use fossil fuels. They give out water. Fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide--a gas some believe is not good for the earth in the long run. Honda may be mass producing fuel-cell cars in the future. This is a glimmer of hope for the world.
How does this fit in with the series on Perseverance on this blog?
A few days ago, I wrote about the friendship of Damon and Pythias. I said it was a metaphor for the relationship that can exist between our ordinary waking consciousness and the Sacred Fire, the bedrock of our existence. The ideal relationship between these apparent two components of our being is one of trust and unconditional love.
In other words, when we are able to recognize that we have a totally trustworthy invisible ally, then our responses to our problems as individuals and as a race will change. No matter what happens around us, in us, or to us, we know that all is well.
Today, many people are concerned about the future of the world. They are worried about peak oil. They fear that if people do not change their consumption patterns terrible things will happen.
While these concerns are legitimate, we can choose a different response. I believe that we can trust human ingenuity. We can trust that when we reach a critical point, the deep instinct for survival of all the living will work together across cultures to avert any man-made world destruction.
While Honda's FCX Clarity is a purely business venture, it offers the world the hope to imagine a different future. We can imagine a world where fossil fuels are used to the barest minimum, if not phased out completely. We can envision a world where every car emits zero carbon dioxide. We can imagine the predominant use of cleaner forms of energy. This is only possible if we collectively trust that the world has an invisible ally that assists us in times of need. This invisible ally may in its simplest form be a self-regulating, self-sustaining process.
It is the same invisible hand that taught our ancestors how to use language. It taught them to use fire, stone and move heavy things on wheels. It is the same invisible friend that inspired the farmers along the Tigris and Euphrates as well as the Nile valleys. We can assume that a Damon-Pythias-like friendship exists between humanity and the forces that keep the world going coming to its aid in time of need. From the invention of the scientific method, the Internet, to the discovery of super-Earth planets, it is safe to trust that human beings as a species have the capacity to solve their existential problems.
Honda's FCX Clarity is the tip of an iceberg of great things to come.
Read about it at Honda's website
The Car Connection on the FCX Clarity Road Test
First Drive: 2009 Honda FCX Clarity on YouTube
Honda Makes First Hydrogen Cars on BBC
