“The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.”

Humans have extended their reach to nearly every corner of the planet. Our engineering prowess has transformed land, sea, and air into playgrounds. As you read these lines, scientific boundaries are being pushed back, revealing the secrets of matter from the nano scale all the way to cosmic dimensions. We’ve conquered the highest mountains, explored deep ocean trenches, and our satellites have ventured farther into space than most of us can comprehend.

One might think that technology is what distinguishes us from other life forms. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are not the only technical species. Not by far, and this realization can be incredibly powerful, if we draw the right conclusions from it.

The solutions that secure the survival of species, large and small, are by nature technical, mission-critical, and have…