Omg yes. I am old enough to remember the tail end of the period when smoking was still allowed on planes and JFC it was awful. They had a smoking “section” but it was still an open cabin so you could smell smoke everywhere. And if you were in the same or next row as a smoker you couldn’t escape it for the whole flight. Flying sucks now, but removing smoking is absolutely an upgrade.

but one of the biggest things I’ve learned from academia is how much I don’t know.

I got my PhD and can confirm that this remains true with every class or degree you get. The more you know, the more you realize you know nothing.