Well, here we are, one year from 2020, whatever that means. But it sounds science fictional at the least. I started reading science fiction in the 50’s and was fascinated from that point on with the extrapolations it presented into the future. Especially the year 2000 and beyond. A lot of the predictions became reality and a lot of them did not. And some of them are still waiting to become reality. Our present way of life with computers and the digitizing of a good part of our lives was not imagined in the way we are now living. The conveniences we now have are somewhat close to the early predictions, but the actual surroundings are, for the most part, missing.
Seeing into the future is dependent upon the present being consistent, like a river flowing predictably. However, even rivers have been known to change their course due to other unpredictable circumstances. But, even so, just imagining the things to come can have a calming effect on our lives. By seeing what is probably ahead, we know that our children, grandchildren and their families will have comfortable and productive lives. Or at least a chance at this achievement. It is, I think, our human (and feeble) attempt at controlling our lives beyond the present. It is one of the illusions we create in our lives to keep us grounded, even sane at times.
This all being the case, what can we expect for our progeny to face in the next millennium? What can we expect them to see in the year 3000? Marriage. Will they still be couples and raise their own families? Education. Who will educate their children? Religion. Will there still be established religions? Government. What form will the peoples of the earth use to keep order in their lives? Jobs. What means will be available for providing for basic existence? Technology. From the macro to the micro, what new developments in communication, medicine, travel, and life in general will be in use?
We obviously don’t know any of the answers to the above, but we do know that all of the above will be different. And speculating about all of the possibilities is stimulating to the creative part of our brains. When we look back over our brief recorded history and see the changes that have taken place over the past millennia, we are able to get a minuscule idea of how the evolution of societies has proceeded. There are very few constants. Almost like a great cosmic “crapshoot.” Although this is not very inspiring, it does give us a measure of hope. And this is one of the main ideas that we have to keep us looking ahead as humans. Hope. It has motivated a good part of our literature and arts and music. It has inspired our sciences and our experimentations and medical research. It has kept us alive as the people of the earth. And now we sing our hope into the year 2019 and beyond into the next millennium, the 3000’s. May our hope be the song in our lives!