I fear those who fear the future. Whoever calls for a halt in technological and/or social progress, I consider a threat to human civilization.
Fear for the Future
- Thread starter SnakeTrousers
- Start date
I don't have any "fears" for the future honestly. I'm quite optimistic about the overall future for the human race. We keep making advances, and improving as a whole. Yeah there is fucked up stuff that happens on a localized level, and it likely will continue for a long time, but everything seems to be improving in stages. And that's the key, incremental improvements over time.
We're doing fine, we could be doing better, but we could be doing a lot worse.
We're doing fine, we could be doing better, but we could be doing a lot worse.
Eight billion single persons. Humanity is not some amorphous mass, it is made up of many individual working parts who's interaction is what determines the course of the whole.RobertEHouse said:
Also you quoted the wrong guy, somehow.
I'm worried about the E.U. collapsing within the next couple of years. While I don't live in it or anywhere near it, the economic shock could cause another recession, or even a global economic depression. If that does happen, things will get... Interesting.
There's also the integrity of the U.S. Dollar to be concerned about, as Russia and Iran are moving towards dropping the dollar, and Switzerland has just ended their practice of pegging the value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro.
Needless to say, Russia and Iran are huge producers of oil. If enough oil production does the same, then instead of oil, the dollar will be held up by nothing but a wish. That would end poorly.
If either of the above happen, they have a very real chance of causing the other, and could essentially bring the global economy crashing down around us. Governments would likely rise and fall across Europe in such a scenario, and I would be unsurprised if at least one or two countries didn't go full Reich in a desperate attempt to salvage their economies. Judging by history, this would probably be successful, but at what cost to human rights and lives?
In this same time period of the next couple of decades, we are slated to finally gain the infrastructure and technology to launch manned Mars missions. Will our first small steps towards an extraterrestrial colony succeed, or topple before our eyes along with our hopes and dreams?
We live in interesting times.
There's also the integrity of the U.S. Dollar to be concerned about, as Russia and Iran are moving towards dropping the dollar, and Switzerland has just ended their practice of pegging the value of the Swiss Franc to the Euro.
Needless to say, Russia and Iran are huge producers of oil. If enough oil production does the same, then instead of oil, the dollar will be held up by nothing but a wish. That would end poorly.
If either of the above happen, they have a very real chance of causing the other, and could essentially bring the global economy crashing down around us. Governments would likely rise and fall across Europe in such a scenario, and I would be unsurprised if at least one or two countries didn't go full Reich in a desperate attempt to salvage their economies. Judging by history, this would probably be successful, but at what cost to human rights and lives?
In this same time period of the next couple of decades, we are slated to finally gain the infrastructure and technology to launch manned Mars missions. Will our first small steps towards an extraterrestrial colony succeed, or topple before our eyes along with our hopes and dreams?
We live in interesting times.
SnakeTrousers said:
I didn't state Humanity is amorphous blob or mass, that was your conclusion. If you read and understood what I was pointing out was that a individual need not to worry about the future of our species. As a few in this post were bringing up from time to time fear of machines, government, AI, etc. They worry as if they have control over humanities future, yet they don't have any control over what every nation or person does.
When people worry about the future they forget there is a larger picture at play in determination of what our out come will be. So why worry at all, because our outcome is controlled by many factors outside of ourselves. People coming together to effect change in some way is the one way to effect the world we live in, But even then those groups must somehow meet on common ground away from cultural, religion and social economical differences to come to some type of neutral understanding as to what is the right course of action to take to benefit all of humanity .
This is one reason why the UN was founded, yet differences between these large groups in the UN have made it ineffective at preventing wars ,famine and other strife in the world because of bias members. Until we all meet on some type of common ground, with nothing to gain political or personal except the benefit of our species future it will be hard to change anything. So why should one person need to worry with so much outside of their control?
Considering the ever frequent stories of water shortage here in Brazil, I really fear for all that enviroment scenarios. There are a lot of cities suffering from that now, what sucks specially because of the increasingly hot summer.
Now, I don't see a "ice will melt and we will all live in Waterworld" scenario, but the idea of having to keep control over the water we drink is pretty frightening.
As for the distant future, put me on the list of people that fear (or actually, is sad for) not being able to see what we will be able to reach. That our lifespan doesn't make us capable of seeing what will happen in the next hundreds, thousands of years. And since I don't have much religious beliefs, death will simply cease my existence, and I will reach the end with a lot of unanswered questions... like the series finale of Lost.
Now, I don't see a "ice will melt and we will all live in Waterworld" scenario, but the idea of having to keep control over the water we drink is pretty frightening.
As for the distant future, put me on the list of people that fear (or actually, is sad for) not being able to see what we will be able to reach. That our lifespan doesn't make us capable of seeing what will happen in the next hundreds, thousands of years. And since I don't have much religious beliefs, death will simply cease my existence, and I will reach the end with a lot of unanswered questions... like the series finale of Lost.
What happens when the economy of the United States is shot but we have all the fancy war toys. (And the economy isn't shot... yet. But with massive and growing income disparity, the price of a college education rapidly climbing out of many people's reach and the obtaining of said education being increasingly poor promise of obtaining a job that can pay off the debt necessary to get that education... Not to mention the mounting national debt and oblivious willingness to allow the richest people to push their obligations on to the public while moving their capital overseas... It seems like it's only a matter of time.)
What happens when the water situation gets really dire. We're already facing choices between fish, crops, and people in places, and it seems likely to worsen.
Overpopulation, which echoes both of the above. You think we have culture clashes now? Oh, just you wait.
In an overarching sense, the feeling that I'm leaving my daughter to deal with a world that is less prosperous, less just, and less forgiving than the one I'll leave... And I don't think there's a whole lot I can do about it.
Have a good day, everyone.
What happens when the water situation gets really dire. We're already facing choices between fish, crops, and people in places, and it seems likely to worsen.
Overpopulation, which echoes both of the above. You think we have culture clashes now? Oh, just you wait.
In an overarching sense, the feeling that I'm leaving my daughter to deal with a world that is less prosperous, less just, and less forgiving than the one I'll leave... And I don't think there's a whole lot I can do about it.
Have a good day, everyone.
I'm trying here but really can't see the point you're trying to make. It's not like nothing changes just because one group or another isn't getting their way exactly as they want it. War, famine and strife still counts as change. Everyone's actions affect it, even if most of it is inadvertent or counter-intuitive.RobertEHouse said:
Has anyone here seen the old version of The King and I? Yul Brenner as The King, the role he made? Well, spoilers follow, but it's over 40+ years so I'm not worrying about it.
The King is trying desperately to bring his nation forward, make it modern, but he's bucking many generations of medieval practices. This includes slaves, which he hasn't freed. Toward the end of the film, he's going to try to beat his favorite slave when he effectively dies of a broken heart. The rule passes to his son, who makes it very clear he's going to modernize the nation beginning with freeing the slaves.
This always annoyed me. I hate the notion that the older generation can't keep up mentally, can't change their beliefs or their stances or expectations enough to make the world better. That was when I myself was fairly young, mind, and as I've grown older I understand the message there a lot better.
That's my big fear for the future: that myself, and others like me, are going to be the King beating our slaves while the rest of the world moves on into a shiny tomorrow. The future has never looked so bright...and FUCK YOU, YOU CAN'T COME ALONG!!!
The King is trying desperately to bring his nation forward, make it modern, but he's bucking many generations of medieval practices. This includes slaves, which he hasn't freed. Toward the end of the film, he's going to try to beat his favorite slave when he effectively dies of a broken heart. The rule passes to his son, who makes it very clear he's going to modernize the nation beginning with freeing the slaves.
This always annoyed me. I hate the notion that the older generation can't keep up mentally, can't change their beliefs or their stances or expectations enough to make the world better. That was when I myself was fairly young, mind, and as I've grown older I understand the message there a lot better.
That's my big fear for the future: that myself, and others like me, are going to be the King beating our slaves while the rest of the world moves on into a shiny tomorrow. The future has never looked so bright...and FUCK YOU, YOU CAN'T COME ALONG!!!
If your fear is really a Cartesian one (lending itself to the "Matrix" problem as it's called more recently) that you are trapped solipsistically in your own mind or some kind of artificial representation, then you'll probably be difficult to convince out of worrying about it. But I'd say, genuine encounters with other human beings have a quality that isn't reducible to 'sense data', and they help ground us in a shared reality. If there is indeed a future worth fearing where individual solipsistic solitude triumphs over humanity (and I'd agree that there is), it will not be because of a shortcoming in our cognitive apparatuses, but because we failed to pursue these genuine encounters/relationships with one another.
If there is some overlap between your worry and mine, it might be expressed in the following question: "(In this hypothetical sci-fi scenario where we have entertainment systems which create experiences practically indistinguishable from everyday 'real' experience) what would have lead humanity to create such devices?" The answer would be because we would rather withdraw into our own individual worlds than do the sometimes painful work of attempting to genuinely share a world with others - but we are again responsible for that decision, if so, and we can correct the underlying attitudes if we choose.
If there is some overlap between your worry and mine, it might be expressed in the following question: "(In this hypothetical sci-fi scenario where we have entertainment systems which create experiences practically indistinguishable from everyday 'real' experience) what would have lead humanity to create such devices?" The answer would be because we would rather withdraw into our own individual worlds than do the sometimes painful work of attempting to genuinely share a world with others - but we are again responsible for that decision, if so, and we can correct the underlying attitudes if we choose.
Might be a little smaller scale than some of the stuff here but..my Job.
I've worked at a public sector leisure centre from I was 17, im now 22 and we're in the early stages of privitisation, my job is temporary and I've been making great money through lots of over time but my contract will run out soon and I'm going to be told to re-apply but i will be brought in under new terms and conditions.
At the minute i'm putting in ridiculous hours just to try and build up a parachute fund for if I lose my job, I worked almost 70 hours last week, I worked 15 hours yesterday and im doing 15 hours today, I'm losing my sanity!
I've worked at a public sector leisure centre from I was 17, im now 22 and we're in the early stages of privitisation, my job is temporary and I've been making great money through lots of over time but my contract will run out soon and I'm going to be told to re-apply but i will be brought in under new terms and conditions.
At the minute i'm putting in ridiculous hours just to try and build up a parachute fund for if I lose my job, I worked almost 70 hours last week, I worked 15 hours yesterday and im doing 15 hours today, I'm losing my sanity!
There are many that I have. But the thing is with humans is that they're so dynamic and creative that they can never be absolutely predictable. Humans aren't a linear species. Yet we only have one timeline that will be recorded, which makes it all the more scary. So we leave it up to fictional universes to postulate what might happen in our timeline if something much different did happen, or will happen. This makes it all the more important to pay attention to science fiction.
I guess if I were to lay down a good fear it would be the misuse or distrust of science. But even that I don't think will spread globally as science is being promoted by a lot of people these days. There once was an age where no one trusted the scientific method, but the popular opinion has changed since then.
I guess if I were to lay down a good fear it would be the misuse or distrust of science. But even that I don't think will spread globally as science is being promoted by a lot of people these days. There once was an age where no one trusted the scientific method, but the popular opinion has changed since then.
Honestly, I'm too busy sopping in existential terror to worry too much about the nebulous future of our world.
I say trust in science and always be suspicious of those with the most to gain, and we'll be fine.
I say trust in science and always be suspicious of those with the most to gain, and we'll be fine.
You made me think about that Love Plus DS game, the "virtual girlfriend thingy". I also don't see us living in some kind of simmulation right now, but I can see lots of people willingly choosing to live in a VR world because they don't want to deal with the real world. It wouldn't be a matter of "Who did this to us" but of "We did it to ourselves".TWRule said: