EVEN NEW DOGS NEED NEW TRICKS

In this fast-changing world which many people seem to think is spinning out of control, it’s not just the older of us who are caught out by the need to adapt. The photographs I take on my mobile phone are better than those taken on my Pentax and recently I saw an interview filmed on a hand held iPhone that looked terrific. Presentations driven by Ted Talks have got slicker, funnier and with a powerful narrative drive.

Most of all what used to be considered amazing, as the founder of Wired Kevin Kelly said:
“no longer amazes people…which in itself is amazing.”  Our capacity for being shocked exercises the inventiveness of the writers of series like “Game of Thrones” and “House of Cards”. But nothing amazes us now…

So when I read that it was commonplace to train your cat to use the lavatory, yes climb up on to the seat and neatly evacuate its bowels into the bowl I was not amazed.  I was like whatever….

By the way I really don’t talk like that ...”like whatever”… but I wanted to see if it amazed anyone and am pretty certain it just met with bemused indifference.

Cricket is a game I played and loved. The greatest player in the last 100 years statistically and in terms of his impact on the game was Don Bradman who scored around 7000 runs in Test Cricket, averaging just under 100 an innings. He hit just six 6’s in his test career. A contemporary payer, the Englishman Ben Stokes, has scored 1900 runs, averages about 34 per innings and has already hit thirty three 6s.

The game has changed. Bats are heavier, meatier and players are coached in the power-play principles of hurling and baseball. Coach Julian Woods Talks about the importance of hand speed. Sam Billings of Kent has a hand speed of 100mph.  My current hand speed is about 17mph. These are not human beings. These are cyborgs.

Golf is no different. Golf courses that for most of us are marathons are pitch and putt sprints for modern professionals who hit golf balls well in excess of 300 yards. Scores of 60 and less - 12 or more under par - are becoming commonplace.

Human beings are learning to adapt and through trial and error exceed previously aspirational levels of achievement. None more so than Dick Fosbury who adopted a new high-jump technique in the 1968 Olympics where he won a gold medal.  High Jumping was transformed. Before Fosbury 2.10 metres was regarded as great but he improved it instantly with a method which today approaches heights of 2.5 metres.
We are ingenious. We find new ways, new techniques and new skills. We don’t know our limits or whether there are any limits. Ocado is working on how to deliver groceries to our homes in just one hour. Meanwhile cats are working on how to nick that steak before the owners get to it first.