The Future

[John Reid]

Writing a tale that takes place in the future often requires predicting what might be? Here are a few examples of when sci fi got it right.

"Looking Backwards 2000-1887" by Edward Bellamy written in 1888 correctly predicted "universal credit". Citizens in his future carried a card that allowed them to buy goods and services from a central bank without any money changing hands.

"The Land of the Iron Clads" by H.G. Welles correctly predicted and described Tanks in 1903. The first real tanks came in 1916.

"Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury in 1953 described "thimble radios" that sound exactly like ear buds of today.

"From Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne correctly predicted the launch from Florida in an aluminum capsule and the splashdown not 50 miles from the real one by Apollo 11.

"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" also by Jules Verne also gave us the submarine way ahead of it's time

"Ralph 124c 41+" by Hugo Gernsback forsaw video conferencing in 1911 he called a device called a "telephoto" that allowed people to have eye contact while speaking long distances.

"Solution Unsatisfactory" by Robert Heinlein corrected predicted that the United States would develop an atomic weapon that would end WW II and that would spur other nations to start an arms race to keep up which led to his prediction of "mutually assured destruction", all 5 years before Hiroshima.

"1984" by George Orwell correctly predicted the rise of state run video cameras monitoring everything back in 1949.

"The Space Station; It's radio application" a short story by Arthur C. Clarke correctly predicted geosynchronous satellites that enabled world wide communications.

and my absolute favorite is the little known...

"Stand on Zanzibar" by John Brunner in 1969 that described America in 2010 under the leadership of President Obomi (I kid you not) plagues with random acts of violence including school shootings, acts of terrorism, electric cars using rechargeable fuel cell technology, Detroit is an abandoned waste land and marriage is pushed aside for short term hook ups.

Now I can't forget to mention what a visionary Gene Roddenbury was with Star Trek, which in 1966 showed us flip top communicators, the Ipad, medical tricorders which todays "scandu scout" app in cell phones mimics, replicators are in their infancy with 3-D printers and so is warp drive which they are working on right now. Talking computers are now a reality. Video conferencing is too. All unheard of in 1966.

Lost in Space showed us an oven that fully cooked a meal in seconds and we laughed at that. Environmental robots came true as well.

Now all that predicted tech while interesting is not as frightening as the future of the world as predicted by sci fi.

"Soylent Green" (Guess what? It's real now although not yet made of people. Between global warming turning our farmlands to deserts to over population one can easily see a world where food becomes a luxury for the rich.

"Road Warrior" predicted a world where all laws and governments have fallen and brought us back to the age of barbarism where roaming hordes of rapists and murderers run amok. (This is the one I see coming true in a far shorter time than we believe)

These are only a few examples of predictions that have or may come true. Your thoughts?

[The Muse]

It is amazing to see it all laid out.
But I can't help but wonder if much of it is not truly "Life imitating art?"
Reading of such things MUST have inspired someone to say "what if..." and those "what-if's" in turn became fulfillment of those prophetical works of fiction, so to speak.

hmmm...

[John Reid]

For sure science fiction often inspired inventors, yet one has to marvel at Jules Verne hitting the mark so closely in predicting where the launch would be from. I mean one would think Mt. Everest would be closer to the moon.

And most amazingly President Obomi? Preaident in 2010? How did he know?

Then there was the book "Titan" about an unsinkable vessel that went down on it's maiden voyage, 18 years before the real life Titanic disaster. Written in 1898.

I have a theory that all creativity comes from God as does our desire to create. So perhaps inspiration is really tapping into the Cosmic mind. If so maybe these authors are really seeing glimpses of the future and are unaware of it.

[Omen]

Okay... okay... OK!!!! This crap is SCARY! I'm not kidding, it's scary!

Yes, I know that a lot of inspiration is taken from the stories, in effect, creating the technology and many of the circumstances you spoke of... but that does NOT make the way YOU laid it out, any less frightening!!

[Omen]

Writing future stories is an art unto itself. My mind is rarely in the present. It is always digging into yesterday for a tad bit of insight into tomorrow, while tricking me into ignoring my closest friend who happens to be, ‘NOW’.

When I start with one of these types of stories, my focus begins with an idea (something that ought to be), no matter how big or small, then a generous application of ‘Butterfly Effect’ paste is applied. Kinda’ like the development process of our Rayn story.

Link: visadj.com/thread/491/rayn-happens-when-rain-stop

I just wanted a world in which it rained 90 to 95 percent of the time. Why? I didn’t have an immediate answer. How? No answer. Where? Nope… got nothing. When? Sometime in the near future.

The impact? Endless possibilities.

We adore high-strung adventures and the thought of displacement into a world… or situation, which allows us to focus and enjoy the spirit of NOW. Forward planning is limited, and the past is nothing more than a trail of cookie crumbs to validate a hard-to-prove conspiracy. In this type of tale, we get to live in the present and simply care about making it until tomorrow.

In the real world, we are bombarded every day in almost every way to worry about and live for the future. Think about it, middle school preps you for high school, as high school pressures you about college and a job. College overwhelms you about a career and society batters you about marriage and kids. Your profession hounds you about growth, your body pesters you about age, your mirror reflects fleeting beauty, and your weight scale informs you that a stroke is waiting for you around the corner.

Once you have finally accumulated enough yesterdays, the future then informs you that you have a handful of tomorrows left and you need to get religion to prepare for the day your earthly time ends.

When we escape into a story about the future, it allows our mind to enjoy an environment that could be, technology that will allow us to embrace the dream of ample free time in youth, the challenges that grants us to focus on a single task, and a present that we can actually live in.

-Omen

[John Reid]

How true. Here is a question for everyone...

Which of the future scenarios painted by the great authors do you believe is most likely to come true?

Very few of them like Gene Roddenberry predicted a future that was sunny. In Star Trek science eventually solved all or most of mankind's problems. No more hunger thanks to replacators. No more disease thanks to advanced medicine. No more wars due to a one world government.

The Terminator predicted a world where artificially intelligent machines would take over and try to eliminate humanity.

Colossus; The Forbin Project envisioned a world where a supercomputer which runs everything would link up with it's Russian counterpart and together they take over the world. Spoiler alert the computer wins.

Road Warrior gave us a world where all governments and laws have collapsed and people fight over gasoline. A return to the age of barbarism with roaming hordes of violent bandits.

Soylent Green gave us a world where nature has all but been destroyed and no one can grow any food so everyone lives on Soylent Green. Except the rich who can pay 5000 dollars for a jar of strawberries.

1984 gave us a world run by "Big brother" who watches everyone's every move.

"Logan's Run" gave is a similar world where no one is allowed to live past 30 and everyone lives inside a giant domed city.

A.I. foresaw a future where humanity goes extinct but leaves behind artificial intelligent robots as his heir.

Even usually upbeat Disney gave us the animated "Wall-E" which shows a future where humanity has destroyed all life on earth and sail through the stars for generations waiting for the day when the earth is habitable once again.

As much as I would like to believe in the Star Trek future, extinction of humanity through it's own fault seems increasingly the direction we are heading.

Your thoughts

[The Muse]

I believe in the writings of prophecy in the Bible. It talks of the "Last Days" before the destruction of the current system of things. Religion is to be destroyed, then world governments will be destroyed by God himself.
The earth will survive. There will be survivors of humanity as well. Then the promise of the scriptures is that God will set up a government over earth that will never be brought to ruin. Sickness, old age, and death will be no more. Poverty will be a thing of the past, as will social strife, racial divisions, etc.
EVERYONE will have their own homes, adequate food and clothing and will work in unity to return the earth to its originally intended paradise like condition. NO more pollution, destruction of the species and ruining of the earth.
Eventually even the dead will be resurrected back to vibrant health. The future prospects for everyone alive on earth at that point will be eternal life, youth and happiness.

All of those things are written about in the Bible. That is what I, personally, believe will happen in the future.

I am not, however, saying this to indicate that I feel others should feel this way or to debate whats written in scripture. I merely believe it is what will happen.

[John Reid]

I'm glad you included the part where you say these are your beliefs so this does not turn into a religious debate.

Movies generated by Hollywood shy away from the Biblical resurrection, for a couple of reasons. 1. They seem overly concerned about insulting other religions but never hesitate to insult Christianity in the least. 2. They are produced mostly by non believers in anything other than money, and that is their bottom line. They don't see religious oriented films as selling.

To those who believe that evil has a consciousness (as I do) one can easily see Hollywood being manipulated toward producing futuristic films with a decidedly depressing prediction of doom and gloom. This helps promote despair among the population and I don't think it is a coincidence that teenage suicide is on the rise.

Most have no belief in the afterlife in this age of science so why should they grow up to face a world like Road Warrior or Soylent Green?

Always remember that at the beginning of the atomic age everyone could see that the end of the world was at hand, yet it did not come.

Today's problems are many. A hole in the ozone layer, global warming turning our farmlands to deserts and threatening our coastlines, over population causing a serious food shortage with increasing famine all over the world, the vanishing icecaps reduce our fresh water supplies, oil spills in our oceans along with disasters like Fukashima dumping radioactivity, and just plain over fishing have turned whole areas of our oceans into dead zones.

So it is easy to predict doom and gloom with that combination of disasters. However knowledge is power. The more we report these things the more people will work to solve these problems. Not just the big corporations but backyard inventors as well.

So perhaps Gene Roddenberry is right and the future just might be brighter than we have been led to believe with all of the doom and gloom predictions.

As for the Biblical predictions regarding the end of the world there really is no deadline on that. It could happen tomorrow or 5000 years from now, so there is no reason to give up on humanity or give up hope. That is what the powers of darkness hope for.

[The Muse]

My hope for the future is bright. Paradise, with perfect humanity, no evil and eternal life. Who could ask for more?
With eternal life in view, it would be possible to become close friends with quite literally everyone on the planet. It would be possible with that perfect brain, which you could use 100% of, to learn everything there is to know about everything...it would take eons and eons to do so.
Then there would also be ample time to become a master craftsman at literally ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. To be self sustaining, to have the time, energy and youth to master what ever I choose, while never having to lock my doors or fear crime, and never become sick....
THAT is what I look forward to in the future.