Humility

I recently saw the new documentary, “Apollo 11”. As the film approached its conclusion there were two scenes that stood out. The first was the last television broadcast from Apollo 11 prior to its reentry. 

But rewind a moment. Neil Armstrong was the coolest of cucumbers. A quiet, introverted man, he barely even smiled in candid photographs. Look at this picture of him. This is Neil Armstrong upon his return from his historic walk on the moon:

Look at the radiance, the glow emanating from him. The weight of a nation, the world, lifted off of his shoulders. This was the first time the man had relaxed in years. What should be elation was mere satisfaction. The man had made history to a level beyond any human being in modern history. The gravity of the moment was much more than 1/6th G.

Keep that in mind as we leap forward two days to that final broadcast. You can see the original video here:

The film really cleaned up the video, but the content comes through well on the YouTube video.

Listen to Mike Collins. List to how me makes his role, as Command Module Pilot, seem small compared to the complexity of the Apollo Command Module. Collins, as a Command Module Pilot, knew every inch of the Apollo Command and Service Modules—none of it which he had any role in designing or building:

“All of it made possible, by the blood, sweat, and tears of a number of people. The American workman, who put these pieces of machinery together in the factory.”

Collins goes on to thank many others including all of the people in Mission Control.

A side note. As I continue to reflect on Apollo (which I have done for 47 odd years), I have come to respect the Command Module Pilots immensely. Rendezvous and docking is one of the most difficult spacecraft maneuvers, and it was critical to the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous technique of Apollo. The CM pilots were the unsung heroes of Apollo.

Buzz Aldrin speaks next, with his undeniably way of seeing the profoundness of larger picture:

“We have come to the conclusion that this has been far more than three men, on a voyage to the moon. More still, than the efforts of a government and industry team. More even than the efforts of one nation. We feel, this stands as a symbol, of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown.”

Aldrin at the time was deeply religious, and celebrated Holy Communion, complete with wine and wafer, on the moon after the landing.

Finally Neil speaks. He looks different now. He has shaved, his hair looks well combed even in Zero G. The euphoria is gone now, and he is almost somber in his reflection. But it does not change the fact he is not headed for splashdown, he is headed for the history books.

Neil knows he is standing on the shoulders of giants. Galileo, Newton. Then he thanks the American people, not for paying for this whole thing, but for “their will”. Neil specifically calls out the spacesuit manufacturer. If you know the story of the Apollo EVA spacesuit, you know it was sewn by seamstresses from the same company that made Playtex girdles and bras.

In the film, the filmmakers interpose the broadcast with pictures of the many workers who were associated with Apollo. It damn near brought me to tears.

But they didn’t stop there. When the Apollo 11 crew was finally released from quarantine, they left the Airstream trailer to applauding crowds of NASA workers. The film catches Neil stopping, and taking a step back to a microphone. He thanks those workers for all they did. Neil had to celebrate his 39th birthday as the “boy in the bubble”, but he stopped to thank those NASA folks for keeping him prisoner. That is just outstanding leadership. And a key component to outstanding leadership is humility.

Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Armstrong might be the most humble people in American history. They had every right to not be humble, but they were, and have been.

Which brings me to my larger point. Humility used to be a core value of being a human being in modern society. Bragging, or being audacious was seen as bad behavior. At one time, young people knew and understood their place: they may have youthful ambition but they lacked experience and wisdom so they deferred to their elders. This was an important component of the mentor/apprentice relationship which defined work for centuries. This deference to humility, this idea the young or the new are in an apprentice role, a probationary position, has changed in modern society. Instead the young and the new demand and are expected to be full members of an organization, complete with the right their opinions and ideas have equal weight to those from more experienced members. In some case the young and the new are granted veto authority. This philosophy now pervades politics.

It is interesting to watch an amazing IMAX documentary, where people who literally wrote their names into the history of the human race show incredible humility, and in the same week watch freshman members of Congress act with zero humility. Congress , like most legislative and parliamentary systems, operates under the ultimate seniority system. If you have ever known anyone who has served on a city council to U.S. Senate you understand this. Senator  Ben Sasse of Nebraska famously waited 10 months before he even made a speech to the Senate. To watch these freshman members of Congress act with arrogance was simply, disturbing. One was born in 1976, one in 1981, and one in 1989. One is a “Xennial”, the other two are Millennials. Unlike those born before them, they do not have respect for authority or elders. They do not have respect for experience. They do not have respect for wisdom. They do not have humility in any form whatsoever--in a role where humility should be paramount.

Humility is like empathy. It is necessary. A person devoid of empathy has a term to describe them: sociopath. A person devoid of humility has a term to describe them: narcissist.

This is bad. There can be no good that comes from someone devoid of humility.

But instead, this lack of humility is being championed by some.

Humility used to be “table stakes” of polite society. No more. This should be a worry. This should be a concern. This should be frightening.

If anyone earned the right to be braggadocios, it was the crew of Apollo 11. There is a lesson there. We all can all learn from it.