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You know, with all the political turmoil, economic strife, and religious mania creeping around the globe over the last several years, I often wonder just how this stage of development will be looked upon by future generations living in this country. Will this be seen as a time of great change and social development, with sweeping socialist reforms changing the face of America for the better? Or will it be viewed as the dark age, when democracy was threatened by dangerous agendas? Or, will there be no conception of a time and place different than what they have, because there is no written word left that remarks about a much different, distant past?
To be sure we can all see the signs and feel the winds of change stirring all around us. But we are unsure as to what end these means will bring us. Thus, the subject of this debate. So tell me, and the rest of us, how you think this time will be seen and represented in the future. Will it be the days of great change and enlightenment, or just another dark smudge in the pages of American history? Respectful posts and debate only please, but feel free to say what you feel.
PS. I am well aware we can't see the future or know what is to come. This thread is merely an opportunity to debate what you think the impact of these times will have on the future and future studies of history.
Since I think we are on the cusp of big advances in medical technology, genetics, human engineering, and so forth, I'd bet this will be viewed as the end of the pre-modern age. History would probably be seen in terms of pre-genetic and post-genetic eras.
Since I think we are on the cusp of big advances in medical technology, genetics, human engineering, and so forth, I'd bet this will be viewed as the end of the pre-modern age. History would probably be seen in terms of pre-genetic and post-genetic eras.
I like the sound of that. You have skipped the political turmoil in favor of focusing on something more solid. And I agree, if nothing else, this will be seen as a time of great advancement. That is, unless our advancement leads us to ruin.
It's the turning point. The future will either remember us as the people who narrowly averted destruction or not remember us at all because there won't be anyone around to do any remembering.
Plus ca change, plus c'est meme chose. If things were really undergoing meaningful change, you'd be very aware of it. Future historians will regard these times as just another Chester A. Arthur administration, with a few new trivia questions.
Whats going on today reminds me a lot of what went on in the 60's. People were upset with their government, they wanted change. Now, they didn't get exactly what they wanted, but they did get some of it.
I think the same thing is happening today, people are frustrated with their government. Even the hardcore right wingers who attack President Obama at every turn will tell you they aren't satisfied with the Republican party either. Generally they'll say, "Well at least they aren't as bad as Obama". I've heard the same thing from Democrats BTW, just pointed in the opposite direction.
I feel we are on the verge of a great political change, just what that is, I can't say. People are scared, and as our President pointed out, when people are scared, they cling to guns and religion. Can we not see this happening today. Change is scary, and our country is famous for saying, "I remember when things were good". Things were always better in the past for this country, and I can't imagine why people keep saying that.
What we've got to do is look forward, learn from the mistakes of the past, and take the next step.
With the advances in genetics, there is no telling how things are going to go. Some scientists feel that my generation will live to see 150 years old, and live to 100 with the body of todays 60 year old. This is very possible, as we unlock the secrets of aging. Robotics will revolutionize everything, and could be the death of capatilisim. When robots are working, and people aren't, what do we do. Under capatilist system, they'd have to find work, but if no work is to be found, they'll have to be taken care of.
I feel that space travel is also another great step, and I'm very scared at the possible scaling back of that effort, due to economic constraints. If we do that, thats one thing I feel that future generations will look at as a failure.
I think it's going to be looked on as a period of transition. We are coming at the start of many advanced technologies that many are possible, even more dreamed of and probable, but not efficient enough to really utilize. Things in our society are changing faster then ever (It was called Future Shock by Alvin Toffler in the 1960's) almost to the point where each year something new starts and comes to prominence, then is overtaken by the next technology or evolution.
I really like the idea of the Technological singularity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that was predicted by Verner Vinge (hopefully not as badly idealized as some of his fiction on the subject) where as technology and humanity become more advanced and integrated the change in life accelerates as it was happening before then. I think smaller versions have happened a number of times in my lifetime. When I was growing up the Apple 2e was top flight (let alone a mouse or GUI), no cell phones, no internet. Life as I know it now is not like is was then, the world has ended exactly as I knew it in my own observations much faster then what I hear from old relatives.
What people will say then we never know because we look back at periods of time and say to ourselves, if they just knew X things would have been so different.
Plus ca change, plus c'est meme chose. If things were really undergoing meaningful change, you'd be very aware of it. Future historians will regard these times as just another Chester A. Arthur administration, with a few new trivia questions.
There is no doubt we are in some kind of a transition. We're passing past the things that we believed to be science fiction on the science front. Politics are in trumoil, but when you look behind the agendas you see a world where the assumptions don't fit anymore. Ask many a man on the street and there is the perception that things in general are not working anymore. The fallicy of the agendas is that they can impose their will on a wildcard. With the physical limitations on our world changing so rapidly nobody can say what will happen.
As the 19th century turned into the 20th, the world as was known changed beyond recognition. But if you'd been there, you would have seen the dfference but not been able to phantom the influence. We get used to things as they change. The most momentous things seem everyday after time. We take them as the new normal. Only years later can you see how important a change is by the way the future grows.
I tend to think that this will be viewed as a time where more and more, you are expected to conform... even though the conformists sell their wares under the banner of 'free thought' and 'freedom from the past.' It's not free thought at all if you aren't allowed to have an opposing opinion.
More and more, I see people around me becoming like the 'Borg' on Star Trek Next Generation. Problem is, be it good or bad, not everyone wants that sort of conformity. We all have different wants, needs, and beliefs. Some folks can't understand that a one-size-fits-all approach really doesn't fit everyone. And, please understand, I'm not attacking the left. I'm attacking the left and the right and the middle. The right-wingers are just as conformist as the lefties (just in different ways). Until we get completely out of our self-imposed chains, nothing will change.
You know, with all the political turmoil, economic strife, and religious mania creeping around the globe over the last several years, I often wonder just how this stage of development will be looked upon by future generations living in this country. Will this be seen as a time of great change and social development, with sweeping socialist reforms changing the face of America for the better? Or will it be viewed as the dark age, when democracy was threatened by dangerous agendas? Or, will there be no conception of a time and place different than what they have, because there is no written word left that remarks about a much different, distant past?
To be sure we can all see the signs and feel the winds of change stirring all around us. But we are unsure as to what end these means will bring us. Thus, the subject of this debate. So tell me, and the rest of us, how you think this time will be seen and represented in the future. Will it be the days of great change and enlightenment, or just another dark smudge in the pages of American history? Respectful posts and debate only please, but feel free to say what you feel.
PS. I am well aware we can't see the future or know what is to come. This thread is merely an opportunity to debate what you think the impact of these times will have on the future and future studies of history.
I doubt that the ordinary person would think anything about these times fifty or a hundred years from now.
People always seem to believe that the times that they live in (the events that they experienced) are the most important in all of history. Hindsight rarely lives up to the hype. My guess is that historians will consider the election of the first black president as the most significant event of these times.
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