They will do wonders. Knowledge, above all. There are beautiful, deep mysteries that may be solved in our lifetimes. For example, I hope we'll see a grand unified theory of physics that explains all the fundamental forces of nature. There's another question, involving mathematics.
Nobody understands the pattern of prime numbers.
If people of the next century can begin to answer these questions, there will be a grandeur to their time. You were an English major at Pomona. After Pomona I went to Princeton and got a Ph.D. in English. While at Princeton, I studied with the author John McPhee, who teaches a writing class in nonfiction, and I became entranced with nonfiction writing. I did a lot of magazine work and began writing for The New Yorker .