C3: Future

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Futurism

Our society had a fascination with the future. The 60s TV programme Star Trek caught the imagination of an entire generation as have its follow ups. The science programme Tomorrow's World shows us what new gadgets we can expect to see in the future. Epcot in Disneyworld is one huge vision of what life will be like in times to come. There are literally thousands of novels and short stories about futuristic worlds and cultures as well as dozens of films on the subject: Star Wars, Back to the Future, The Terminator, Bladerunner, Waterworld and Strange Days are a few examples. There are some interesting common themes in these visions of the future:

(i) We expect science to break more and more boundaries allowing us to explore much of the known universe.

(ii) We expect technology to develop so far that it will satisfy our every whim. Every kind of need, from food to fun, will be available on demand.

(iii) We expect just as much violence and pain to exist as there is now. Probably more.

There are exaggerated forms of optimism and pessimism in these visions. We see the future both as what we want it to be but also what we know it will inevitably be. On the one hand we think that the quality of life will be improved by numerous gadgets to service are desires, but on the other hand, we think that much of society will break down and loneliness and alienation will grow.

It seems that happiness and fulfilment will not come through science and technology. Only the human heart can save us. So often, in novels, short stories and in films, it is the warmth and kindness of human beings that save the day. After all the machines and computers have done their work, it is the ability of people to show forgiveness and love that is key to resolving the story. This realisation has always been Judaism's vision of the future. If Mankind can find a way to live in peace then there is hope.

And it will come to pass in the end of days...
[people] will beat their swords into ploughshares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation will not lift up sword against nation,
neither will they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:2-5)

Predicting the Future

Every magazine has horoscopes and Mystic Meg's predictions are watched by thousands. We all want to know what will happen to us. But Judaism always lays the key to our future at our own doors, not in any star sign or astrology. They are fun to read but, in the long run, they encourage us to think that our future is out of our hands and to deny our responsibility for the ways things turn out. It's not magic, fate or the cusp of Venus that will transform our lives - it is us.

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