# Which future do you fear the most?



## Mighty mouse (Nov 7, 2006)

Does the idea of a terminator style unrelenting enemy evoke something primal in you? or perhaps a grinding gray lit distopian 1984?
How about being a puppet of mental mutants or elking out an existance in a radioactive winterland?
I think the idea of living in permanent fear, of having no basic freedoms and having the life force sucked out of me on a daily basis by a race of vampires is where it would be for me.


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## j d worthington (Nov 7, 2006)

Mighty mouse said:


> I think the idea of living in permanent fear, of having no basic freedoms and having the life force sucked out of me on a daily basis by a race of vampires is where it would be for me.


 
Problem is, with the exception of the stereotyped idea of fangs, etc., that last isn't the future -- it's what we've got right now.

I fear a future (like the present) of the reign of apathy and the "silent majority", of unthinking, unreasoning reactionaryism rather than the use of deliberation, discrimination (in the positive sense) and judgment; an increase in superstition, neo-mysticism taught as science, and a recrudescence of ignorance and poverty of both intellect and imagination. In other words... what we've not only sewn the seeds of, but are vigorously cultivating now....


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## Winters_Sorrow (Nov 7, 2006)

Bar the vampires, I think we're already there.

For me the worst future would just be an extension of the present. 
Terrible wars of fanatical religion, increased ferocity and frequency of natural disasters brought on by climate change, large disparity of wealth and living standards between select few and vast dumbed down majority.
Education & Health only for those who can afford it, dissolution of moral values, large "sink" estates in the heart of every major city where fascistic police rail against anarchistic youth and aggression.
Rampant disease, corruption, self-interest and greed in 'developing' countries leading to large scale humanitarian refugees to more stable countries, continuing a domino effect until the inevitable xenophobic backlash and riots begin.

EDIT: JD, we think too much alike. Scary, isn't it?


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## j d worthington (Nov 7, 2006)

Ummm, errrr.... yeah. What's _really_ scary is that we were putting this in at the exact same moment....  That's just a little_ too_ eerie....


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## SpaceShip (Nov 7, 2006)

j. d. worthington said:


> Ummm, errrr.... yeah. What's _really_ scary is that we were putting this in at the exact same moment.... That's just a little_ too_ eerie....


Not too eerie - it's probably what most of the rest of us are thinking.  Anyone with even half a brain should be agreeing with what you say.
My mum has often said, "I'm glad I was born when I was and lived in the time I have lived - the future holds no attraction for me whatsoever.  I'd hate to be young now!"  She was born in 1916 and lived through two world wars, yet she prefers those times to now.  Says a lot doesn't it?


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## Thadlerian (Nov 7, 2006)

I don't fear religion as much as nationalism. Nationalism is so fundamental to our understanding of the world, so profoundly unassailable that any criticism or resistance is an impossibility. Nationalism, as the idea of common cultural and racial heritage as grounds for one group's "ownership" of a land area/country does not only make ordinary people kill "the others" in millions, it also prevents any international agreement on environmentalism or poverty, or anything else that might require material sacrifice.

And it's on the rise. Alas, the future is upon us. We're being slowly suffocated by the compulsion of homogenity within the group, of the romanticizing of the past and anti-intellectualism, of having of having others determine who we are and where we belong.

Give me the vampires any time. Those can be fought, at least.


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## Spartan27 (Nov 7, 2006)

This is Spartan27....what future I fear the worst...how does the earth's axis shifting 5-7 degrees to it's right, and then centering itself...in my opinion you can't get any worse-off then that...15,000 ft tidal waves anyone?


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## steve12553 (Nov 7, 2006)

I fear what I see: stagnation. Nothing wonderful will happen unless there's big money to be made. All of our best technologies are driven by the biggist profits. Thirty-five years ago we were headed to space. We had a new frontier to attack. We would grow as a race (species, in case I need to be politically correct). If I live another 50 years, I may not see humanity reach the stars.


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## WhiteCrowUK (Nov 7, 2006)

I find that Gene Roddenbury's vision of the human race in Star Trek: Next Generation is quite scarey, where we all suddenly get along and always do good.

What happens in the next 300 years?  Do the replicators secretly drug everyone with Valium as in THX-1138?


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## Nesacat (Nov 9, 2006)

I think that like most of you I fear a future that is already here. A future where the rights of one group rules supreme trampling on all other peoples in the land. A future where the young are filled with apathy and are supremely satisfied with lives that evolve around a glitzy lifestyle. Where knowledge and reading fall by the wayside unless it's a means to achieving further material gains. A world where fanatics hold sway and reason no longer exists. Where we abuse Nature so much she lashes back in hurt and anger. A world where there is no real place for the unique or the creative or those who think and see things a little differently.


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## The Pelagic Argosy (Nov 9, 2006)

I will go ahead and vote for the unrelenting enemy scenerio.  I just saw War of the Worlds recently, and that was pretty scary.  I wouldn't want to experience something like that.  (It was the Tom Cruise version, which made it even scarier.)




j. d. worthington said:


> I fear a future (like the present) of the reign of apathy and the "silent majority", of unthinking, unreasoning reactionaryism rather than the use of deliberation, discrimination (in the positive sense) and judgment; an increase in superstition, neo-mysticism taught as science, and a recrudescence of ignorance and poverty of both intellect and imagination. In other words... what we've not only sewn the seeds of, but are vigorously cultivating now....



This is scary too.  But these kinds of things have been going on since the dawn of man.  It seems to have waxed and waned throughout history, and I imagine it will continue to do so indefinitely.  It only depends on what time and place you live how relatively bad it is.  Perhaps I'm feeling more optimistic than usual following the midterm elections.  But I only have to look at how women are treated in Afghanistan to see how well off I have it.  

Here's what I think will really happen:  Hard won freedom and reason will finally spread to all corners of the world, ushering in the the most peaceful period in man's history.

Then we will be destroy by a meteor.


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## The Ace (Nov 9, 2006)

A Global superpower using overwhelming military force on anyone who dares to disagree, and my own government crawling up its arse . Hang on, this is actually happening.  Scottish independence, get us away from Blair and Bush!


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## Joel007 (Nov 9, 2006)

world domination by rednecks.


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## Sibeling (Nov 9, 2006)

I think the scariest thing for me is some deadly virus that cannot be cured.

I mean, we are making the future and if we all behave like intelligent people and not like a bunch of idiots the future will not look so dark and it is just possible that there will be no World War III and we all will not die because of pollution. 

But a thing like a virus appears without human intervention and there is nothing we can do about it even if we all are goody-goodies, recycle and respect the rights of the individual.


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## Milk (Nov 10, 2006)

Overpopulation.

As it stands, people are living longer and longer. 
There is also a drastic reduction in infant mortality.

Also-- People's decisions (people as a whole, I dont mean subgroups, I mean all people everywhere) to have children *isnt* declining. 

If anything I see people trailing anywhere from a half dozen to a dozen offspring with them everywhere they go. And rest asurred those children will make at least half a dozen more infants, this is for everyone and everybody. A couple deciding to forgoe the having chidren? One in a million.
People will just breed, producing unlimited amounts of people.
Until the landscape is seething with humanity scraping and bumping against one another in a limited amount of space.

There won't be any genocide or catastrophe to thin the population. Nature won't intervene to cull the masses. Either through plague or war, or anyother avenue. This is because there is no Nature, never has been. Simply a word used when people feel nostalgic for greener times.

Imagine a crowded street, now multiply that by a thousand. Look around you next time you are in a crowded theatre, concert, or stadium, because well, all of the outside and inside of the world will be like this, tenfold. Something to the effect of, the weight of people on the Earth competes with the weight of the entire Earth. Many miles high, and many miles below. People stacked on top of eachother, rutting, squabling, and having more babies.


This isn't the future I'm scared of, its just one thats certain.


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## Azathoth (Nov 11, 2006)

The future I fear the most?

The world becomes one massive, totalitarian suburb. Every forest is cut down, built over, and the only plant life left is managed completely and totally. Regulated lawns. Community "volume levels" (no loud music, shouting, etc.) Strict, geometric zoning regulations. The only transportation is public transportation. No personal cars or bicycles. Regulated diets. 

Uptight neighbors who monitor your every move. The only channels on television are soap operas and reality shows. The news only covers jokes of the day, work bloopers, and things of that nature - it never reports deaths, accidents, or real political discourse. Strict laws regarding where one may live (no leaving one's district, ever). Culture across the globe being destroyed in the name of progress - all architecture must conform to certain standards, ethnic cuisines must meet government regulations, and all languages, save Esperanto are banned.

Children must participate in an after-school group sport. No exceptions. The handicapped are aborted before birth, because they are blights on the community. Education is controlled by location and by test scores; if a child is born into an "industrial neighborhood," that child will be educated as a factory worker of some kind (be it as a manager, laborer, I/O psychologist, whatever) depending on his/her test scores. Sexuality is used as a tool of sedation - people must marry, but they are allowed to have their affairs. Couples must have two children, but they aren't allowed to spend more than twenty hours a week with them.

Religion must meet certain regulations. Nothing which makes the populace uncomfortable may be preached; universal salvation is a required teaching of all faiths. Science must meet certain regulations, as well. Nothing must contradict what the people believe. Science must act as a counterbalance to faith, so that neither faith nor science have any impact on the people. 

In other words, the people must never be stirred from their hedonism; they must never suffer; they must never understand that the world extends beyond their local community; they must never feel any true passion. 

...

Yeah, that's my idea of a horrid future.


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## Azathoth (Nov 11, 2006)

More realistically though, I foresee a Malthusian end to our kind.  But that's not as frightening as an endless suburb.


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## steve12553 (Nov 11, 2006)

Milk said:


> Overpopulation.
> 
> As it stands, people are living longer and longer.
> There is also a drastic reduction in infant mortality.
> ...


 
This is truly scare and counter to all the optomistic futures presented in Science Fiction. Look at Heinlein's *Starship Troopers* and Roddenberry's *Star Trek *and nearly everybody future universe. They are UNIVERSES not solo planets with a population that either expands or stagnates. We are not getting into space. The history of the human race has been expansion into new territories and an every increasing population designed to populate the new conquests. It is the nature of the beast. If we stop acquiring new territory to expand into we must either be a stagnant, dying culture or a massively overpopulated culture. Both scenerios, given human nature, eliminate the concept of a utopian society and suggest a largely criminal, self-center culture. Kinda like what we have now but ramping up the bad parts by powers of ten.


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## Harpo (Nov 12, 2006)

Getting into space will not help overpopulation.  At the current growth rate world population is increasing by something like quarter of a million per day.  Which means we'd need to send that many interplanetary colonists on their way every singel day just to maintain the current level of crowdedness.  I can't see that happening somehow.

The future I fear is an attempt at that anyway.  Mankind colonising other world's without first solving mankind's major faults.  Taking our idiocies to other planets and carrying on the mistakes we have made befor which got us into this mess and future messes.
Trashing the entire galaxy bit by bit.

I very much look forward to the extinction of the human race, much better that than our putting a McDisneyBucks (or whatever) around every habitable star in the sky.


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## dustinzgirl (Nov 12, 2006)

I fear a world like Demolition Man, perfection under the thumb of a few. Pretty much the same thing JD----acceptance and apathy.


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## Milk (Nov 12, 2006)

steve12553 said:


> This is truly scare and counter to all the optomistic futures presented in Science Fiction. If we stop acquiring new territory to expand into we must either be a stagnant, dying culture or a massively overpopulated culture. Both scenerios, given human nature, eliminate the concept of a utopian society and suggest a largely criminal, self-center culture. Kinda like what we have now but ramping up the bad parts by powers of ten.


 
There have been only a few Sci-Fi scenarios that I felt came close to presenting this inevitability, one was *THX*(forgot the numbers lol) and the other was *Soylent Green*. I felt that *Soylent Green* was a bit closer to the truth. 
Now about government and culture, whether its Utopian or Totalitarian. Well my idea of Utopia would not be billions,trillions of bodies swarming on top of eachother like a stirred up anthill, without trees,grass, or any substance organic or inorganic other then human bodies, and im talking no lava, no rocks, just a vast sea of human bodies. So Utopia is sort of ruled out there, for me anyhow.
I also dont think Space Travel is an option since to permit space travel for the population neccesary, you would first have to convince people that 'outer space' exists. This I completely doubt is possible. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. The physics of space travel and colonization might even work, but convincing the population that there even is an outer space, like say that the moon is a place, a place people could move to, not just some white image we see at night, well I completly doubt that. So for me that pretty much trumps that idea. Only a tiny amount of people on Earth view outer space as a 'place' instead of well a heaven or something to look at nighttime or with a telescope. Maybe these people think its a dark blanket pulled over by the sun god? I dunno.

As far as Totalitarianism or future goverments and big brother with gizmos and stuff. Well we have the gizmos and they will keep getting better, but they won't and can't keep up with the population. While there may be some exponential as to computer power doubling, it just pales in comparision to the information to keep track of since the amount of people just keeps getting larger at a much greater rate. In other words, no government, utopian, distopian or what have you was designed to deal with so many people as we have now. Its new territory, and no culture, no government, no technology, no natural disaster, or unnatural disaster could ever keep up and counter this. Theres simply just going to be too many people around to cope. Whether we plan the future with good ideas or bad ideas, none of them will dent the amount of people. And this can not and will not be stopped. With all world cultures putting all their focus on producing more people, with all people on the Earth only concerned with having more children-- I dont see this being turned around, ever.

Look at China as an example, a government that actualy made laws to counter overpopulation with something as extreme as enforced abortions, well it didnt work. I've heard it said that at present rate of growth China alone will require another Earth's worth of resources in 20 years. So their plan failed, and this is from a culture, a communist one which is the worst kind of oppresion, and it still had no effect. So what chance does a non oppressive government have of combatting this? None. Both extreme government and loose government, couldn't put a dent in it , and thats assuming anyone even cared.


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## j d worthington (Nov 12, 2006)

Have to disagree with you, Milk. There comes a point where it does all collapse, inevitably. When it gets to that point, we will have the Four Horseman good and proper ... and with weapons that can wipe out the entire planet (we do indeed have such things already developed, and lots more drawn up -- we've had them since about 1960). The least we can expect is tremendous famine, war, and pestilence that will do for the entire Earth what the Black Death did for Europe.... This happens to the human race periodically, it seems, and it may be the only way we can be winnowed out ... but it's one hell of a price to pay for being stupid in the meantime. However, as has been noted many times, stupidity is _always, in the end,_ a capital offense....

But in the meantime, I've said it elsewhere on here, and I repeat now (in partial support of what you're saying because, in the short term, you're quite possibly right): when I was in high-school -- I graduated 30 years ago -- the world's population was somewhere right around 3 billion. It is now something over 6 billion. The population has, in other words, more or less doubled in 30 years. In just the U.S. alone, in 1900 the population was around 85-90 million. It is now somewhere in the neighborhood (counting "illegal" or "undocumented" -- or whatever term you prefer -- immigrants) of 300 million. That's a tripling of population in about a century. So yes, overpopulation is going to, inevitably, lead to some sort of horrendous measures, either draconian governmental measures, the aforementioned horsemen, or ... if we can overcome the resistance to good scientific education for all (dream on, j.d.!) ... possibly ... just with a tiny amount of possibility ... getting out into space and either colonizing or building environments out in space -- though the sheer physical problems confronting this last, even if everyone were behind it, are almost unimaginable. But, eventually, something will whittle down vast numbers of the populace, to the point where we may well see 80% or more of the human race eliminated.

That is the corollary to your future, Milk... and to me it seems as horrific as the alternative you posit....


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## Andrew Hook (Nov 14, 2006)

The worst fear is my death, howsoever caused. My second fear would be the death of everything else. That's the inevitable future as far as I can see it.


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## Ian SCD Officer (Nov 15, 2006)

I am afraid of environmental destruction first and foremost. It is in a dire state and will only get worse. And yes, I agree, overpopulation is a major issue as well, and our overpopulation partly explains the environmental disasters we are facing at present and which will intensify in the future. Consumption is the other big evil, with a lot of organisations and governments gobbling up resources through agricultural and industrial expansion.

Take Britain for instance. This country does have a lot of lovely scenery but it is so hard to find now, with these gigantic motorways, airports, runways, and new housing being built constantly. We are dangerously overpopulated; in 20 yo 30 years time we will face serious disasters especially given how small our country is geographically. There is barely any living space, and it will only get worse.

I am also afraid of some supervirus coming along, but I am more worried about collapses in our health and education systems. I am also terrified of unemployment, which I think will only get worse as more and more jobs are outsourced. I am scared of gang violence getting worse too, with many gangs virtually taking over certain estates and areas and the police being either too afraid or too incompetent to deal with them.

I am not too afriad of a nuclear threat though, despite the arrogant boasting of Al Queda and other religious reactionary terrorists. But on the whole, the future looks very bleak. We are also facing climate change with Tsunamis, floods, famines, etc, as there are far too many people competing for too few resources. Plus, this 'winter' has been frightingly warm (over here anyway), which is not a good thing. 

Overall, I am not optimistic about the future at all. I am dreading it. I intend to join some environmental organisation at some point in the near future, once I get out of this damn university, but I think we are too far gone now. There is little hope left, unless we change dramatically now. We need to have far fewer children, we need to stop gag violence now, raise living standards in developing countries through proper means, not just exploiting their labour, and finally we need to stop consuming so much.


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## steve12553 (Nov 16, 2006)

Outsourcing was mentioned. As long as the jobs aren't outsourced to another planet that's just a world economy adjustment. Those of us not in a third world country won't like it but that's what it is. Ecological problem will probably be way behind the overpopulation disasters. In spite of the odds and the numbers, we need to expand outward. We need space(as in outer). Colonization of other planets may not be economically feasable but famine, plagues and eventual ecological disasters will be even less acceptable.


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## Harpo (Nov 16, 2006)

As I said before, we'd need to put a quarter of a million people into space every single day just to maintain the current world population level.

Imagine if we could build that many spaceships.  Let's imagine we could build huge spaceships which each hold a thousand people.  We'd need to build and launch 250 of those giants every day.  Do we build 250 Cape Canaverals or do we have a queue of giant spacecraft at each launching place?

What about the practicality of building these spaceships? How many factories would it take to build 250 giant spaceships every day?  How long until materials and fuel supplies run out? 

If we want to actually *reduce* world population by expanding into space, adjust the figures accordingly.   3 billion sounds about right, for a reasonable population level.  So, to get down to 3 billion from the current 6.5 billion means putting 3,500,000,000 people into space.  If we increase tenfold the rate of building and launching these giant spacecraft, then we could put 2.5 million into space every day.

Meanwhile, think about what the people actually want.  Do millions and millions of people actually *want* to leave this planet?  My guess is no.  So there would be protests, riots, revolutions, etc.

It's not going to succeed as a method of saving the planet.


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## j d worthington (Nov 16, 2006)

Harpo, I hate to agree with you on this, especially as I do believe the only viable chance we've got of survival in the long run is to get out there and colonize -- but the fact is that you're almost certainly right. And even without those problems ... where would we colonize? So far, we have absolutely no indications of any Terra-like planets out there, and we certainly don't have the techniques down to do terraforming on any planets we do know about ... and there's the incredible distances involved, as none of the planets in our system are good candidates without creating atmospheres, etc.... which would, even if we had the technology, take one hell of a lot of time.

Generational ships? Maybe. If we did have a workable means of suspended animation. Because, no matter how big the ship, you put a bunch of human beings into such an environment for any extended period of time, you're going to have fragmentation, strife, and probably what would amount to civil wars... and probably end up with a corpse ship.

Space stations? A somewhat better chance in the short run ... but look at the effects physiologically on those who'd be living there. Not to mention we simply have no idea what it'd do to any offspring.....

All of this said... it still remains our best bet for survival as a species. The problem is going to be -- as I mentioned in another thread -- junking all the b.s. agendas and getting down to actually educating people honestly about what's facing us and driving it into their thick skulls that we are not going to survive much longer if we don't do something to get out there. We've messed over our nest badly enough that, even if we completely changed and eliminated all the various methods of harm we're currently indulging in (which would mean completely junking everything about modern society, from cars to ice cream) it's going to take millennia for things to begin to really right themselves again ... if then. And then there's the things we've not even begun to really deal with, such as the possibility of another planet-killer smacking into our little mudball... or the supervolcanoes that seem to erupt every so often and wipe out about 80-90 percent of the world's population, or....

So we have to not only step on toes, but jump up and down on 'em, I'm afraid. Junk the pie-in-the-sky stuff and hammer home all the evidence and what (to the best of our current understanding and subject to revision as new information comes along) it means... and, as far as our survival is concerned, the picture ain't pretty. Oh, and for all of us who'd love to get out there ... we'd most likely be the last people that would be picked, as we tend to be imaginative, individualistic, and given to somewhat idealistic views of things ... fine once a planet's inhabited, but hell on a pioneering mission.

However... this Cassandra wants very much to be proven wrong... so get busy and do so, and I'll happily eat crow.


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## steve12553 (Nov 16, 2006)

When I was in eighth grade (39 or 40 years ago) I watched a play on TV for a school assignment(very intelligent teacher unbeknownst to me at the time) about a world 100 years into the future. The premise being that the population had become so large that having a child without a special permit was a crime. Children were allowed to go to the upper levels of the nearly completely overbuilt world on one or two days a week for some sunshine. Everything was a worst case scenerio. The plot of the story had to due with a man trying to win a race through a large area of this massively populated city for a chance at the prize of an acre of land out of the last piece of a national park in the United States. He managed to be the last qualifier and he and his illegally pregnant wife were shown at the end in their open field, enjoying the space as a buzzing noise increased in the background until the camera pulled back to show that the noise was the sound of the thousands and thousands of people crammed up against the fence holding them out of the open space. Wonderful program. Well written. I remember it vividly to this day. Using JD's numbers as a loose guideline, the population has much more than doubled since I saw this program. It may not be practical to launch portions of the population into space, but it is much less practical to do nothing. I really don't think we (as a species) have taken space travel seriously since John Kennedy was killed. We've done so little technologically to help this problem in this 40 year period. (That progam was on an American network in prime time, so we were obviously aware of the problem.)  But on the bright side, we have spent billions developing cell phones and MP3 players and game machines and other wonderful things to distract us. I probably won't be around when it gets that bad. Things like wars, natural disasters, attitude changes by segments of the population toward different types of birth control and policy can slow down these increases ......slightly. But it sure looks like it's coming.


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## j d worthington (Nov 16, 2006)

One of the very few encouraging things about this is the fact that the human race periodically seems to get itself (or a large-ish segment of itself) into a genuine crisis where it literally becomes "do-or-die" ... and that crisis pushes us into actually stretching ourselves to do what is necessary. So it _may_ be that this is another case of that and that, if things get to a certain point, we will find ourselves with a strong instinct for _Lebensraum_ pushing us into space. In which case, we will make it, because there will be enough of a groundswell of support to actually enable us to make the advances and take the chances (yes, a lot of people are going to die in the move out into space, a _hell of a lot_ of people are going to die ... but less than if we _don't!_) to actually make it succeed. But...

But the pity is that, even so, it may take us finding ourselves in that corner before we do this, which will mean either such tyrannical and draconian measures that personal liberties and the quality of life are simply nonexistent (in order to prevent population increase there will be forced sterilizations in massive numbers, certain segments of the population will almost certainly be chosen to be either severely segregated or eliminated slowly -- or not so slowly, anything which questions government edicts on sexual matters, interpersonal relationships, marriage decisions, etc., will be severely punished, etc., etc., etc.) ... or we will have a very long date with the Four Horsemen that will make anything of the past look like a walk through the park in comparison. The Black Death? _*Pfui.*_ That was before the extreme forms of interdependence of the modern industrialized world. Try having people dropping like that ... not to mention the necessary quarantining to prevent spreading the disease ... and see how fast our society collapses, people starve or turn to cannibalism, how long before there are horrendous riots and the most reactionary form of regionalism this sorry world has ever seen ... just for a start. All this _before_ we actually get our butts in gear and solve the problem by making rational decisions and educating people and moving toward a sane move into space. And, if anyone thinks that's not going to be one hairy uphill battle -- as it will inevitably mean much more severe clashes than we have ever seen between various belief systems and science to get the necessity and the realities through people's heads, to name only one problem -- think again. But we keep skirting the problem, so these are most likely the only alternatives we're going to have ... assuming the almost Pollyannish attitude that even _then _we take the measures necessary to survive.

All because we're simply too busy with infantine squabbling over petty doctrinal differences and too damned purblind to realize that this little mudball we're on is less than speck of dust out here, and that because we've made it so far is by no means a guarantee that we'll make it much further... and the cockroaches are patiently waiting. The dinosaurs (as such) had a pretty good run. Ours looks pretty pitiful in comparison, overall....

We must start educating people into looking at this as an opportunity, and encourage the adventurous who are willing to take a chance (just as in any pioneering), couple that with those who are technically trained for the job of running the things, and begin getting out there, knowing that -- like the seagoing vessels of old, or a fair number of the covered wagons that went West -- there are going to be a fair number that don't survive. We also need to be looking toward the asteroids and, yes, some of the planets, for the resources necessary to continue building such ships and fueling them. (And, yes, I know this means repeating the same horrors we've pulled here by destroying their natural beauties. I'm not blind to that, nor am I at all happy about it. But it is a choice between that and not surviving as a species, folks. Maybe the human race doesn't "deserve" to survive -- though I think that is, in the end, a decision made by whether we do or not; but life -- any life -- feeds on other life, and on death friends. That's the brutal truth of the matter. The question is, do we do what's necessary to survive, while doing the best we can to minimize the damage, or do we decide a priori that we shouldn't survive in favor of preserving the natural environment of planets that, from the evidence, there'll be no one to appreciate if we don't make it.) (Yes, I do very much believe there's lots of life out there. But the galaxy itself is, according to some sources, about 80-100 thousand light years in diameter -- not to mention its "thickness" -- so the likelihood of ever encountering any life other than our own within the span of the existence of our species, is unlikely, to say the least. Not impossible, but unlikely. And so far we've no evidence of any such life out there, so it remains a mathematical likelihood and a _belief_, not a _certainty_. Meaning: if we are the only life to evolve this far, and we choose to not take these steps... I'm not too convinced of the nobility of such in a cosmos without anyone to benefit. -- And it may help some to take a look at the following, in order to really begin to conceive just how big that really is... 

Milky Way - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And as for life _outside_ our galaxy... Well, looks like the _present distance_ -- remember the universe is _expanding_ -- to the edge of the visible universe is something on the order of _78 billion light years_, so the galaxies are _very_ far apart, and each is comparable to our own in size, more or less, so what's the actual likelihood of encountering life from outside our own galaxy? Or them even making it here at all, _ever... period_? Things to consider before we hamstring ourselves by deciding _not_ to take the necessary steps....)

So... I'd say the future I fear is already upon us, just not the worst effects of it, yet. It's something I've commented on many times on the site, and it hinges almost entirely on _lack of education of the physical realities in favor of various beliefs that cannot be objectively verified, while these things_ (by and large) _can_, and this includes the horrendous resurgence of various types of very muddly-headed mysticism as well as the unconscious belief that the earth is flat (after all, it certainly looks and feels that way to most people) and that it's all that matters, and the resulting complacency that someone or something will always be there to take care of us, rather than it being up to us to take care of ourselves.

P.S.: And for those who'd like more on the Universe as a whole:

Universe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Azathoth (Nov 16, 2006)

Zombies.  

As long as there are zombies, the end of the world will at least be entertaining.  

*gets out the shotgun*


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## otistdog (Nov 16, 2006)

What you guys are fearing seems likely, but not likely to last too long.

I just came from reading this:

h t t p://
sysdyn.clexchange.org/
sdep/
Roadmaps/
RM1/
D-4468-2.pdf

(had to put in line breaks due to not having enough posts)

Kind of terrifying.

--Otis


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## Azathoth (Nov 17, 2006)

> What you guys are fearing seems likely


  Zombies?


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## Sahnny (Nov 26, 2006)

On the thought of some kind of superbug to kill us all, I highly doubt it.

Through sexual reproduction, the human race is so widely different, that a virus or bacteria that will kill of thousands with leave thousands alive. The Black Death didn't kill off all of Europe, because those that survived were resistant and immune to its effects, not because it wasn't in the vicinity.

As for me, I try and think of the Human Race's future as little as possible. It seems dark in some points, and bright in others. Famine will never be a true and huge problem because we have the ability to make foods, including fruit and veg, from scratch. Substitutes like Quorn can be grown and produced on a mass scale and could feed billions.

War? I doubt it. Currently, the nations of the world know the risks of war, and I doubt that the only two (USA and Russia) that could bring the world to an end through war, are going to instigate one, or get involved directly.

And even then, the Human Race won't die out.

If anything has been proved by the continual survival of our species, it's that we're resiliant in so many ways. The Human Race didn't get to where it is today without knowledge, and coupled with our natural instinct to survive, we're set for the future. 

Yes, that's an optimistic view, but Mankind has come far too far to die out now, of all times, at the pinnicle of our intelligence, and after a time of such advancement. 

People are turning into pessimists, wherever I turn.


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## K. Riehl (Nov 27, 2006)

As we become more and more reliant on interrelated technology there are more chances for a major interruption precipitating a collapse. Throw in a major virus and the population will be corrected. 
The survivors may or may not keep the technical knowledge. The human brain is still the biggest advantage nature has bestowed upon the creatures of this world. 
Try reading "Darwins Radio" for the next step in evolution that adapts to current stresses.


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## Urien (Nov 27, 2006)

Squirrels on uppers with Kalashnikovs.


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## Specfiction (Dec 1, 2006)

Which future do I fear the most--the one that seems to be unfolding...


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## j d worthington (Dec 2, 2006)

While I agree that human beings are a fairly hardy species in some ways, the fact is that we've had a terribly brief run in comparison to, say, the dinosaurs (2.5 compared to 165 million years is a bit of a gap). And elimination of us as a species? Possible, though unlikely anytime soon. However, the collapse of our increasingly technologically interdependent world is likely to cause a major collapse, which would indeed result in mass starvations (how are these "artificial" foods going to be processed, let alone transported, without the various technologies?), which means corpses littering the place in many countries, which leads to various nasty bacteria and pollution of the water sources, which leads to more death; not to mention riots by those who are suffering against those who are not, an increasing chasm between those who have the resources and those who have not coupled with the lack of technologies would almost inevitably lead to a resurfacing of a widespread use of slavery (people will not give up any more of their luxuries and conveniences than they absolutely have to ... even if that means that large portions of the human race are once more treated as property). And, as we've found, production of artificial foods tends to have its own serious fallout: more pollution usually in the process, artificially introduced nutrients are by no means as easily absorbed by the body as those derived from natural sources, leading to weaker constitutions unable to fend off various diseases, etc.... and we're back on _that_ cycle again.

As for this being "the pinnacle of our intelligence"... I have very grave doubts about that. As throughout history, those who have education may, in small numbers, be increasing our learning ... but the majority even there only go so far as is necessary to add to their comfort and luxury, not to further human knowledge or understanding. And the majority of people are, frankly, too busy just trying to survive from day to day to put in efforts in that direction. And far too much knowledge we've already gained is nearly lost, and we keep repeating the same cycles over and over again with that. It's been argued -- and I'd say that it's largely true -- that Western civilization reached its true pinnacle on an intellectual plane in Periclean Athens (we're not talking technology here, which is not at all the same thing ... and even there we're finding they were closer to us than we realized) and we've not reached that height in true _general_ intellectual development since. The general dumbing-down of the populace these days is appalling, in comparison to what it was even a century ago, let alone a century and a half. (If you disbelieve me, try reading the correspondence and diaries of people of that period ... you'll find a considerable disrepancy between their period and ours. In fact, one of the things that surprised me most, upon finding out about it some years back, was that -- along with the true staples of diet -- the most important things for most of the settlers heading West in America were books: the classics, no less: Homer, Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Aeschylus, etc. Can we say the same of this generation, or several past?)

This is not to say that this is the future that will happen -- but it is a very, very possible future if we don't take steps to avert it. And all it takes is not finding ways to power our technologies that are replenishable. Famine is indeed a widespread phenomenon throughout the world. Guess again. We don't tend to hear that much about it, usually, but large parts of the globe are constantly suffering from this. We've not even put a dent in this for the majority of people on the planet -- either this, or barely subsistence diets. As the population increases exponentially (as it is likely to do within the next century), this will only become much, much worse.

And that's not even taking into account the supervolcanoes, and the planet-killers among the asteroids that can wipe out huge numbers (or all) with very short notice, and the percentage chance of one those being a major factor increases with each year that goes by that we don't find a solution to _that _problem as well. (Recall that, from the figures I've seen, the last time the supervolcano underlying portions of Europe and Asia Minor went, the population in Europe dropped from ten million to just about 500,000. Yes, we survived. But just barely. Anyone willing to sit back and accept those sorts of casualties and _not_ find it a future to regret or fear?)

Nor am I too sanguine about the chances of another war, this time quite possibly utilizing both nuclear and biological weapons, not taking place, and lots of the smaller countries using their own weapons in such a conflict out of fear, once it gets rolling. Counting on our leaders' knowledge or intelligence is sort of like playing Russian roulette -- with five loaded chambers. History should teach us a bit too well that the causes of war have nothing to do with such things, but only with our very basest drives (at least in their _instigation_ ... the defense _may_ have somewhat nobler motives, on occasion). And as the scramble for resources increases, the likelihood of such conflict also increases ... exponentially. And the idea of Pyhrric victory certainly didn't seem to have much effect on people during the Cold War -- remember the "Better Dead than Red"?, anyone ... or the proposed Cobalt bomb? -- The fact that either side was actually willing to contemplate such things doesn't bode too well for either side's restraint.

We have some grim realities to face, people, if we want to have a brighter future. We do have the potential to create such, but we'd damned well better get busy doing so rather than resting on our laurels, if that's to be the case.


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## Specfiction (Dec 2, 2006)

I give us (the human species) a less than 50/50 chance of survival at the present (or better) level of accomplishment if there aren't some fairly serious changes--especially in the attitudes of the "1st" world. A very dangerous sign that we're seeing in the US is the inability of many in the general public to distinguish between reality and rhetoric. Like in any 12-step program, one has to admit there is a problem before one can address it.

I think that science fiction, when thoughtfully presented, can serve as more than just entertainment. I think the best literature should work on many levels.


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## KZCat (Dec 4, 2006)

WhiteCrowUK said:


> I find that Gene Roddenbury's vision of the human race in Star Trek: Next Generation is quite scarey, where we all suddenly get along and always do good.
> 
> What happens in the next 300 years?  Do the replicators secretly drug everyone with Valium as in THX-1138?



You got that right, bunch of damm hippies living in sin, flying around stikin' their noses in everyones buisness and doin' it with an android!


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## Curt Chiarelli (Dec 4, 2006)

I'll throw my ballot in with a Malthusian/Orwellian future. And the good possibility that earth will be clobbered with a meteorite or comet that may outstrip both the Tunguska Event of 1908 and the KT Boundary Incident in severity. 

Such a collision will, no doubt, trigger a devastating series of earthquakes, volcanic activity and monstrous tsunamis. But the *REAL* threat will come from nations assuming that it was a nuclear strike and then retaliating, thus, ironically, completing the job that Nature begun.

And J.D. has got it right again with an intelligent analysis of what our future portends.


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## K. Riehl (Jan 14, 2007)

Super bug or major war, mass starvation, even with all this if one out of ten thousand survive then humans will survive. The Black Plague killed as many as 20 million over a couple of generations. That was still only about 20% of the population at the time. This population was replaced in two generations. If the human race is reduced to a small fraction of the  population it can survive living off the debris of current civilization. 
Maybe then a more stable, long term, non-self destructive society will be formed to avoid the problems of today.
I doubt it though.


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## Nikitta (Jan 15, 2007)

What I fear the most is an overprotected future in the way that we get banned from doing more and more things "for our own good" (and to avoid possible lawsuits) and being unhappy, no matter how natural a reason you might have, is considered a dangerous disease which you are given medicine for. If you refuse to take it, you're condsidered a danger to yourself and possibly your sorroundings.

We then become unimaginative zombies with no common sense left, both cursed by and getting more and more unable to do without all that "protection".

That thought scares me.


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## dsmith (Jan 15, 2007)

How about a future like in Stirling's _Dies the Fire, _with the death of all technology? We are all so dependent on it now that survival would be very difficult. And no more Chronicles!


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## Kitera (Jan 16, 2007)

Thats true, something like the black death is scary and very unpredictable. But then again, I'm scared of everything, don't ask why; apparently I was born that way =/


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## apokalypsis (Jan 16, 2007)

Azathoth said:


> The future I fear the most?
> 
> The world becomes one massive, totalitarian suburb. Every forest is cut down, built over, and the only plant life left is managed completely and totally. ... In other words, the people must never be stirred from their hedonism; they must never suffer; they must never understand that the world extends beyond their local community; they must never feel any true passion.
> 
> ...


 
That's brilliant. Would make a great setting for a novel or short story.


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## apokalypsis (Jan 16, 2007)

Milk said:


> Overpopulation.
> 
> As it stands, people are living longer and longer.
> There is also a drastic reduction in infant mortality.
> ...


 
Got to differ with you on that one, Milk. An essay published in _Foreign Affairs_ in 2004 or 2005 (which excerpted a book on the same subject) argued pretty convincingly that apart from war, famine, or disease, the population of this planet will probably level off around 2050 (at 10 billion or so), and then start declining. (Apologies for not having the exact source in front of me.)

The reason? Improved longevity and a higher standard of living. Regions like Latin America and the Middle East will see dramatic drops in birth rate. (Iran already has, thanks to free laser vasectomies.) Rich nations will continue to have lower birth rates, many going into negative population growth. (Japan's already there. Much of northern Europe to follow.)

The future may have a crisis of lack of "human capital" as an aging population lacks the strength of youth to keep things running. Of course, some of this could be remedied with more liberal immigration policies from the countries that are still producing more children, but aging, shrinking populations seem to indulge in xenophobia more than average.

Oh yeah, almost forgot: _The Economist_ reported recently that something like 10% or more of women in Germany are not interested in ever bearing children. As one UCLA professor pointed out, the rich, liberal societies of the West are birth-controlling themselves out of existence.


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## Talysia (Jan 16, 2007)

I think the future I fear the most is one where we've ruined the Earth with our pollution, whether it be from carbon emissions or some other format, like bacterial/chemical weapons.  I'd hate to be in a world where the air is no longer fit for humans to breathe without serious medical problems, especially since it would probably force an even bigger gap between the rich and the poor (those who can afford proper filters - if any are available - and those who can't.)


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## jackarcalon (Jan 26, 2007)

-Any future that looks too much like the past.
-stagnation through bureaucracy. The powers that be want to maintain themselves, and centralize authority. You might not know why, but opportunities vanish, and the world seems to get more boring.


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## j d worthington (Jan 26, 2007)

Jackarcalon, that sounds one hell of a lot like the present to me....

(Well, except for the world getting more boring. There's plenty of interesting stuff going on... it's just that most of us are too busy coping with the other parts of your scenario to enjoy them...)


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## Curt Chiarelli (Jan 26, 2007)

I'll second that motion!


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## apokalypsis (Jan 29, 2007)

Anyone else out there seen (the DVD of) Mike Judge's 2006 film _Idiocracy_? That's about the scariest future I can think of -- and seems surprisingly likely. Got to say, though, I died laughing at the sequence of the "Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505."

Btw, Fox tried to squash this movie (which lampoons Costco, Starbucks, umm, Fox News, energy drinks, and other American institutions). It wasn't great storytelling, but the setting and supreme idiocy of the proletariat-run society of the future make this a must-see.


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## Neal Asher (Jan 29, 2007)

Here's a thought, maybe the future to fear is one where there is no war and no possibility of war, or, more importantly, revolution. Imagine all governments amalgamated into one worldwide superstate with nothing to check its power and interference and no borders beyond which you can flee. A great grey bureaucracy would be wrapped around the planet sucking the life out of everything. Everything would be standardized, every movement watched and hordes of governement officials would be making new regulations based on the input of focus groups and statisticians: 0.0023% of the world population choke on peanuts; all peanuts must be crushed and sold as peanut butter etc. Mmmm, not what does all this remind me of?


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## Azathoth (Jan 30, 2007)

> Everything would be standardized, every movement watched and hordes of governement officials would be making new regulations based on the input of focus groups and statisticians: 0.0023% of the world population choke on peanuts; all peanuts must be crushed and sold as peanut butter etc. Mmmm, not what does all this remind me of?



Y'know, come to think of it, this is the second time this week I've seen a child trip and fall down.  I should really report this to the Department of Safety; maybe we can bubblewrap all the children in the world?


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## Nikitta (Feb 8, 2007)

I work at a callcenter and some of the people calling in scare me a bit. Not because of what they don't know (after all, if they knew, there'd be no point in calling us to ask), but because of their general helpless attitude, like "What am I going to dooo? I can't do that! What am I going to dooo?!" without even giving it a serious try.

I fear a world catering 100% to them and the results of it.


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## jackokent (Feb 8, 2007)

j. d. worthington said:


> Jackarcalon, that sounds one hell of a lot like the present to me....
> 
> (Well, except for the world getting more boring. There's plenty of interesting stuff going on... it's just that most of us are too busy coping with the other parts of your scenario to enjoy them...)


 
That's a good point JD.  We are all being very negative about the present and of course there is a lot to fear about it, but it is also great.  I do not subsribe to the view that things are going down hill and getting worse particularly.  Call me an optimist but there were always bad things going on right back from when we were cave men.  The world is changing, maybe something are worse, but some things are definately better.  Global warming again my be a threat, it may be an answer to over population.  

There's all kinds of things to fear in the future, there always was and there always will be, but I don't think the current is as bleak as we always make out.  If I listed all my fears I'd need a computer wiht a bigger memory but in the end I drink, I smoke, I eat junk food and these are likely to get me in the end, and it'll all be my fault.  I've shaped that future.  

I can't see up colonising other planets very soon.  We don't seem organised enough.

I guess the future I fear the most is one without books.


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## Frozeninja (Feb 11, 2007)

Just been reading through this thread, we're a cynical lot aren't we? 

What's worse it I agree with most of it.


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## Chun the unavoidable (Feb 12, 2007)

It may be that Huxley had it right with "Brave New World". Seem to be lots of Alphas (or wanna-be's) around.


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## j d worthington (Mar 16, 2007)

apokalypsis said:


> Anyone else out there seen (the DVD of) Mike Judge's 2006 film _Idiocracy_? That's about the scariest future I can think of -- and seems surprisingly likely. Got to say, though, I died laughing at the sequence of the "Great Garbage Avalanche of 2505."
> 
> Btw, Fox tried to squash this movie (which lampoons Costco, Starbucks, umm, Fox News, energy drinks, and other American institutions). It wasn't great storytelling, but the setting and supreme idiocy of the proletariat-run society of the future make this a must-see.


 
Having not seen the film, I'd not made any comments. But I just had someone provide me with some links for some clips from it... and what we have here, kiddos, looks one hell of a lot like a rip-off of C. M. Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons". I mean, one _*HELL*_ of a lot! Read the story, then look at the clips (or the film), and you'll see what I mean. Except... Kornbluth's story is smarter, and a bit more vicious in its social commentary, from what I've seen here. And nowhere is he given credit, that I can see...

Idiocracy (2006)

The Marching Morons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now, unless I missed a credit on there somewhere, I think I smell a very nasty lawsuit in the offing.....


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## j d worthington (Mar 16, 2007)

Sorry for the double-post, but... for those who are interested in seeing what I mean:

YouTube - Idiocracy - At the Hospital

YouTube - idiocracy intro


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## Pyan (Mar 17, 2007)

*J*oe* B*auers - *J*ohn *B*arlow! Now, there's a coincidence!
Well spotted, j d


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## isacked (Mar 17, 2007)

everything is very pessimistic...

I personally fear a world ruled by one superpower with one agenda: the Bush-y neoconservative one that tries to impose 'liberty' on everybody else using military force. Their 'liberty' involves fixed elections in their own country that benefit only the rich and powerful. Then we will be controlled by global corporations that care only for their own good...


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## liana (Mar 19, 2007)

The future i fear is exactly the same as the one we live in now . Everything is so wrong on so many levels and it is all being flushed away by polititions .time  and resouses are being wasted . we should live in a society where everyone has a job ,somewhere to live and a roof over there heads .if anyone has a problem with this then they should be sent to the outer hebredes . And we should invest more money in sustainable energy and space projects .everything should be run as efficiantly as possible,so that if disaster does stike earth than at least we hae tried .


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## brsrkrkomdy (Apr 9, 2007)

What I worry the most is the collapsing of civilizations where we would have to kill each other in order to survive.  We'd also end up with a Simplification period where the scientists, the doctors, and just anybody who could read and write get systematically persecuted and killed.  Books get burned.  Computers get destroyed.  Just to get the Knowledge eradicated for fear that Knowledge will only bring death, destruction, and untold grief.  All due to this forever war.  And history get repeated again and again.  Depressing thought, I know, but I fear we're kind of heading in that direction.


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## Mighty mouse (Apr 9, 2007)

Have to agree. We seem on the cusp of technologies that will facilitate local wars having devistating global impact.
Recently a science journal announced laser weapons are nearing battlefield deployment as in the lab they have reached 50 KW (70 'required' for battlefield 'use').


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## j d worthington (Apr 9, 2007)

Mighty mouse said:


> Have to agree. We seem on the cusp of technologies that will facilitate local wars having devistating global impact.
> Recently a science journal announced laser weapons are nearing battlefield deployment as in the lab they have reached 50 KW (70 'required' for battlefield 'use').


 
Oh frabjious day! Callooh! Callay! 

Now all we've got to wait for is for them to install them in your family automobile _à la_ Ellison's "Along the Scenic Route".....


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## Mighty mouse (Apr 9, 2007)

The theatre of war may shift, soldiers may not be the frontline anymore. Our beloved politicians able to reduce each other to a stain on the floor? the repercussions could be quite novel.

I guess the upside maybe that should aliens be sitting (levitating?) on the sidelines they may be forced to intervene. But that could be another can of annelids.

And I can't believe I spelt devastating devistating.
I'm sure there is some forum software that deliberately inserts phonetic spelling into the more erudite posts


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## JDP (Apr 13, 2007)

Yeah, I'd probably just go with the T2 robot overlord thing.


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## JDP (Apr 13, 2007)

I don't much like spiders either. Too many eyes (the legs don't bother me). I wouldn't like a future ruled by brainsucking spiders.


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## JDP (Apr 13, 2007)

... er... I mean... Global Thermoapathetic Overpopulation?


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## GrownUp (Apr 16, 2007)

A fundamentalist future. Religious/political/cheese-sandwich.

*whisper*_ Him. Him over there. _
_Who, him?_
_Yes, your next door neighbour, the one with the hat. He doesn't like cheese sandwiches._
_I've never liked him._
_Came out and said so, bold as brass. People like that, I don't know. Makes me sick._
_I've never liked him._
_He won't sing the cheese sandwich national anthem. What will we tell our children? That a man can deny cheese sandwiches?_
_I've never liked him._
_Let's get him._
_Yes. Burn him! Burn him!_


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## Urien (Apr 16, 2007)

A future that is like the past.

Quit whinging 21st century folk; try any time prior to the second half of the 20th century for size.

But I agree on the brain sucking spider thing.


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## JDP (Apr 17, 2007)

<oratory>

Good point, andrew.v.spencer. It's easy for us to see the darkness in our future but compared to the 90% of the human race who have gone before us, we've got it easy. In fact, for those of us with access to these forums, we're also better off than 90% of the people who are living now (I'm talking about first world culture, of course, not just the fact that we have access to chronicles!).

The standard of living and freedoms that we enjoy are unparalleled throughout the rest of our history (I think - am I wrong? Would be interested to hear otherwise). The problem is that our _perception_ of freedom is simply growing faster than our _practical_ freedom.

I don't think that our future has to look bleak - there are a multitude of ways in which we can help to improve our communities (both virtual and realworld). If enough of us focus on this, we can then cast our nets wider and help the global community at large.

The future is what we make of it so as long as we don't start genetically modifying spiders to have a taste for brains, we should be okay.

</oratory>

**JDP steps down from his soapbox, smiling beneficently. Rapturous applause echoes throughout the forum, drowning out the catcalls of the odd nay-sayer. So engaged are the audience in JDP's oratory that nobody notices a set of eight eyes glowering malevolently from the shadows. Like a whisper taken by the breeze, they are gone, leaving only a lingering promise of doom.**


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## Mighty mouse (May 27, 2007)

j. d. worthington said:


> Oh frabjious day! Callooh! Callay!
> 
> Now all we've got to wait for is for them to install them in your family automobile _à la_ Ellison's "Along the Scenic Route".....



Scientific American has an article on upcoming battlefield lasers, sorry 'beam weapons'. 
They are solid state about the size of trucks.

The interesting thing is the military take, 'near infinite low cost magazine' and 'little or no collateral damage'.

So warfare will become cheap and precise.


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## j d worthington (May 27, 2007)

Hmmm. You just had to bring that in, didn't you, MM? 

To be honest, I'm not surprised. And it may not be all that long before they get into private hands somewhere, either.....


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## Urien (May 27, 2007)

What about genetically altered brain sucking spiders with lazers for eyes?

Arrrgh... the horror, the horror.


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## HardScienceFan (May 27, 2007)

No prizes for guesses which future I fear the most.
Ignorance,general stupidity,intolerance,racism,spying governments.....,
total depradation of the planet,idiotic governments,suppression of political opposition.....
That's the future i fear


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## Allegra (May 27, 2007)

HardScienceFan said:


> No prizes for guesses which future I fear the most.
> Ignorance,general stupidity,intolerance,racism,spying governments.....,
> total depradation of the planet,idiotic governments,suppression of political opposition.....
> That's the future i fear


 
Good sum-up. Worse than our planet being demolished by Vogons for a hyperspace bypass.


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## j d worthington (May 27, 2007)

andrew.v.spencer said:


> What about genetically altered brain sucking spiders with lazers for eyes?
> 
> Arrrgh... the horror, the horror.


 
Funny. I thought we had those already. (You've got to admit... it _would_ explain an awful lot.....) 

Besides... I _like_ spiders.......


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## HardScienceFan (May 27, 2007)

I fear a future in which we will look like at a slightly aquarium-shaped thingy like hypnotized idiots.It will show things which are 'broadcast';said things will be a bewildering variety of bad movies,insipid drama,comedies with canned laughter*filmed before a 'live audience'*,things called talkshows,in which people ask inane questions of 'guests',and the guests respond with 'duhhhh,what does 'inane' mean?',documentaries about life in the Playboy mansion,funny short clips the purpose of which is to entice us into buying an absolute load of bovine fecal matter,and a weather forecast which is "brought to me by the deleted deleted company".Ooww, is it raining today?Well,i'd better not buy the product then!!! 
"new improved formula!!!"Ben 
Ok then:
a future with 
no space exploration
no love
no empathy
no creativity
no peace


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## Gothic_Angelica (May 27, 2007)

I fear the future our government is trying to give us. Kind of like Vfor Vendetta really (scary thing is I can see it happening, can't you?)

The whole star trek thing is evil, maybe they brainwash everyone really.

the end of earth (my best friend and I can't agree on how that will happen though)

can't think of anything else

Gothic x


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## daisybee (May 27, 2007)

I fear a future where most of the population waste their lives in nowhereville : debt, poverty, mindnumbing jobs, junk food/no food, obesity, starvation, violence, addiction, lawlessness, depression and so on. Where we stop looking for meaning in anything, we let authorities wield ridiculous powers over us making us virtual slaves to beauracratic redtape-without question for fear of "bother". Where our identities are sold for greed, rendering us invisible and trapped in limbo until we can "prove" who we are.
Where air travel and fuel become so expensive that only the richest will ever travel and see the wonders of this big bad beautiful world, before they dissapear, because of humankinds ineptitude and short sighted attitudes- where whole species die out because of our intervention-never to roam the earth again, and religion is used not for love and guidance but for violence and corruption and political agendas.

Oh, wait ...a future with genetically altered brain sucking spiders with lazers for eyes is looking pretty good right now...I'm pretty sure one is already colonising the dark recess beneath my bath!!! 

We would unite as one race and defeat them with heroism and witty one liners, in fierce battles: learning from previous mistakes, breaking down barriers between cultures for the greater good. And therefore defeating our enemy and the enemy within ourselves, thus saving the planet from a future worse than hell.

Who knew spiders could essentially save the world?


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## Rawled Demha (May 27, 2007)

like a lot of people have already said, i fear an extension of the present for the future. one where the surveilance state evolves into the manipulative - dare i say controlled? - state. \

where just watchin us is not enough for those in power - btw, to the person who feared the end of the capitalist era - the surveilance state exists to stop us from interfering with their moneymaking, so i *may* disagree with 
you - but they basicallly tell/or make us do what they want/or need in order to complete their business.

ah, i am finally amongst fellow doomsayers, how great it feels not to be kicked out of a room for my depressing outlook for man 

/me looks behind me for the incoming boot


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## Tabasco (May 27, 2007)

I think I'll be slightly alarmed in a world with no America that was, UK that could be, or Canada that is. As bad as things seem now, life has only gotten better on this planet. Not everyone in days of old lived in castles, attended balls, and feasted into the night.


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## Mighty mouse (May 28, 2007)

j. d. worthington said:


> Hmmm. You just had to bring that in, didn't you, MM?
> 
> To be honest, I'm not surprised. And it may not be all that long before they get into private hands somewhere, either.....



I'm sure the drug dealers will use them responsibly but I think the politicians had better start being very nice to the military ..


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## Serin (May 28, 2007)

Rawled Demha said:


> like a lot of people have already said, i fear an extension of the present for the future. one where the surveilance state evolves into the manipulative - dare i say controlled? -


 
This, too, is the future I fear.


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## Harpo (Jul 25, 2018)

I think an eleven year gap is long enough. Let's revive this fascinating topic for the benefit of everyone that wasn't here in 2007.
Of course, for some people then, the future they feared the most has come to be. 

*travels back in time and says "fidget spinners"*


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