The Current What drives people towards impossible goals
May 11, 2026
Mark Medley, journalist and author of Live to See the Day, profiles people who chase long-shot, multi-generational projects. He explores cathedral-scale undertakings, treasure hunters in Arizona, the search for extraterrestrial life, patience as a practice, and projects meant for future generations. Short, thought-provoking stories about optimism, persistence, and handing the future a better world.
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No Hope Candidate Who Kept Running
- Mark Medley followed Liz White, leader of the Animal Protection Party of Canada, who knowingly ran longshot campaigns and kept running every election for decades.
- He first profiled her in 2008 when she got ~100 votes and then watched her persist for 20 years despite never winning.
Two Flavors Of Impossible Goals
- Medley groups impossible goals into two types: those almost certainly never to happen and those likely someday but not in the pursuers' lifetimes.
- Examples include no‑hope political runs and interstellar travel efforts by engineers who accept they'll not see results.
Cathedral Mindset Fuels Long Projects
- Many pursued projects function like building cathedrals: laying foundations they won't personally benefit from.
- Seth Shostak and others see their work as planting trees whose shade they'll never sit under, a noble long‑view stance.
