Don't ever quit

The phrase "Operation Immortality" caught my eye first; then I noticed, too, that I could send a message to the universe that would be maintained and archived for future generations.

The message I sent: Don't ever quit.

That is the only message that ever needs to be passed on from generation to generation; that's all humanity needs to know. Parents in Christopher Columbus' time, faced with the daunting task of crossing an unknown ocean to find a New World, needed to tell their children Don't ever quit. The railroad workers who tunneled by hand through mountains to build the transcontinental railroad should have had tattoos: Don't ever quit. The astronauts on the Apollo missions and today's space buses: Don't ever quit.

And as we continue as a species, as we move forward into each century, as we discover new worlds and cure diseases and advance in arts and literature and music and commerce, we need to say: Don't ever quit.

I had the chance to post that motto, which should be humanity's motto, on the message board at "Tabula Rasa," which is the game that caught my eye in the first place. Tabula Rasa is a new online game (which you can try for free right now) that challenges you to join up with Operation Immortality: Leave your mark. Save Humanity.

I haven't been one to join any of these online games so far, but just checking it out made me go ahead and download the free trial -- not just so I could post my message (which I did; you can find it by going there and checking out Message ID 549) but also so that I could play it; the game looks pretty cool, and how many games promise Immortality?

So, mankind? Don't ever quit. And players of Tabula Rasa? Join up -- and then don't ever quit!