The real world of tomorrow

[IamLou]

Everything is always offensive to a few people. No matter what you do, what you say, what you conceive, it will offend someone.

 

A case in point. In Quebec, association fighting aids are faced with a rare problem: no media or government want to publish, telecast, or show the new anti-aid message. And what is this message? In French it reads “Fuck, le sida tue†(translated, it means “Fuck, Aids killsâ€ÂÂ). Now, before going further, you should know that, if French-speaking-Quebecois sometime use the four letters word, it is a very minor swear word (about the same level as “Darn it†or “Dog gone itâ€ÂÂ) since our cultural taboos are religious rather than sexual. To English-speaking-Quebecois, however, this slogan is very offensive. Therefore, no matter the importance of the message, if it offends some people, it is rejected.

 

What does this have to do with Science-Fiction?

 

Well, two things. The first is that science fiction is concerned not only with physical science but also with social sciences. Remember for instance the wonderful worlds described by Asimov in Foundation or Clarke’s funny outcome of an earth with two suns at the end of 2010. Remember Earth’s story according to Star Trek. The second thing is what sci-fi does to science. Simply said, sci-fi tells science where to go and often how to get there. Long before Neil Amstrong, Jules Vernes’ caracters had walked on the moon. Long before Cousteau invented the scuba gear, Nimo’s man walked the ocean’s floor. Long before a university’s team beamed a single atom from one point to the next, Kirk was flipping his communicator and saying: “Beam me up Scotty.â€ÂÂ

 

This being said, I would like to ask you, fans of sci-fi, how do you see the world of tomorrow. Will our children remain slaves of their own “good taste†and place offends before meaning? Will we, the human race, ever free itself of these shock-messengers who can say something without offending as many people as possible?

 

How do you see the society of your children’s children? I’m not taking of widgets and gizmos here but of way of life.

 

If you want to render the question even more interesting. Define this world of tomorrow by one of your favourite author/story.

 

[Arktis]

I think that a thousand years from now, this era will be reffered to as some kind of dark age where technology enslaved the people rather than empowering them, that folks were more concerned with comfort than making progress. I think that one day we'll learn better, when we really wake up and discover what we are losing by caring only about the moment.

 

I'd of course, have to tie this in with the Star Trek vision of the future, where people are only concerned with good faith among sentient life and the continual betterment of it in every aspect.

 

Love, knowledge, understanding, peace, etc.

 

Maybe it's impossible, but maybe that's just the way it seems from this point of view. I have to believe that it's possible to achieve one day, otherwise there would be no point in continuing the human race.

[IamLou]

A thousand years ago, the human race was laying on the basis of romantic litterature, medival and then religous regidity, and even the industrial revolution. No matter how we juge it, this era is truly the root of our modern world.

 

Today's society will most likely translate into, perhaps a perceived dark era but most certainly into the roots of what is to come. Remember that in Star Treck future, things went WAY worst then they are now and only in this circumstance was the world able to change course.

 

Somehow, in this tiny little mind of mine, I find it hard to conceive that humanity will let itself fall that low and that fast so as to be unable to pull back. Therefore, the Star Treck senario seems unlikely to me.

[str82u]

Something meaner than people are going to show up. Just an opinion.