The Future...

Skyscrapers, spaceships, hovercrafts, and teleporters; these words all describe the popular and rather clichéd depiction of “the future”. In science fiction movies and comics alike, the future of the human race is one of chrome and computers, complete with flying cars and rocket-ships. The people are strong and handsome as are the robots that serve them. Let us carry out a thought experiment to formulate alternate “futures”…

Today, more and more jobs are opening, that require less and less direct communication. Before the Information Age, Tom and Dick woke up at six, and either drove or rode the bus to work, which required them to sit in a cubicle and begin working at seven thirty. At twelve, a one-hour lunch break was given, and at four Tom and Dick drove back home and arrived at home by five. Today, more and more jobs are offering work-from-home environments. At seven Tom and Dick wake up, brush their teeth, and watch some news with breakfast. At seven thirty, they open their laptops and work in peace and quiet until twelve. They heat up some lunch and work while they eat. Since they are already at home, they may choose to work much later. Tom and Dick are content with staying at home. There are fewer distractions at home. There is no time wasted in getting to and from work. Less time is wasted going out for lunch. The company is happy with its productive workers. Perhaps in the “future”, there will be no need to exit one’s house. Tom and Dick may work from seven to four, then decide to “visit” the Grand Canyon in a virtual TV of the future, complete with taste and smell. After returning from Paris, they may choose to drop in on their neighbors, via the phone of the future of course. This theory, of course, trashes the concept of a future of rocket-ships and hover cars. Instead of commuting physically, we may commute virtually.

The future, according to TV and comic books, will have beautiful people: tall and muscular people that are physically fit. But perhaps, with the absence of having to physically leave one’s home to go to work and having to do very little physical activities, our limbs will become vestigial, like our ancient appendices and ear muscles. With high-tech computers that can be controlled by thought, we could design technology that our robots could manufacture. We could get by without worrying about having to get up. One could argue that Evolution has made us taller and stronger, so it is logical that It will continue to do the same. Charles Darwin’s survival of the fittest isn’t limited physically: our ancestors grew taller and stronger, because the tallest and strongest had the greatest chance of survival; in the modern age, strength has little impact on our day-to-day lives. Intelligence is what matters. The smartest get the best jobs and get the most money. The dumbest have a harder shot at survival. Possibly, our descendants will be incredibly intelligent. Perhaps they will be taught calculus in kindergarten and quantum physics by the third grade. Perhaps we will look like a large head with a shrunken body and stub arms and legs.

Buck Rogers and Star Wars both predict the future to be one of tall skyscrapers and never-ending cities. It seems logical that we may have to expand upwards after our cities have fully expanded outwards. As thousands of European immigrants poured into American cities at the turn of the twentieth century, cities began to expand outwards, growing into suburbs to accommodate the immigrants. Soon, as more and more offices began sprouting up, the demand for skyscrapers increased. Still, one could easily tell when one city ended and another began, usually aided by miles and miles of farmland and grasslands in between the cities. As cities are expanding more and more, it is becoming increasingly difficult to do so; cities are growing into each other. Though skyscrapers are growing taller, and cites expanding wider, there will come a time when it will be more cost effective to expand beyond the horizons, literally. Why cling to earth when it is human nature to explore? Already, NASA and other adventurous organizations are planning programs like the NASA lunar outpost that ultimately aim to colonize everything from the moon to large asteroids. As resources are already dwindling today, can Earth really support a planet of say, 20 billion? Mining operations on the moon, mars, and various moons could sustain the human race as a whole. Solar energy harvesting factories could be set up Mercury, and Mars could be used for housing. Sooner or later, we could expand out into other solar systems. Instead of there being one over-burdened, over-populated city-planet, it is more logical to colonize multiple planets.

So to anyone that may be reading, please respond…