It’s a very human, very natural thing to think about the future. As far as we know, we are the only species which does so, at least to any meaningful degree. To be able to think beyond the problems of the moment (the predator approaching, the earth tremor, the next meal etc.) and imagine a future which does not yet exist, is one of the powers that has enabled humans to develop as far beyond other creatures as we have.
But that we can also think in detail about what might be AND then to take steps to make that happen, is a uniquely human ability.
Sometimes when we think into the future, either on purpose or when simply day-dreaming, we imagine positive events. Things we want to do that we haven’t yet – perhaps a holiday or plans to develop our home in some way.
But more often than not, we tend to think less positively about the future. Even to the point of catastophising. We get hung up on those four horsemen of the apocalypse – War, Famine, Pestilence and Death – and our incredible power of imagining the future brings us nothing but worry and anxiety.
Fixating on negative possibilities is actually a useful human survival trait. Any of our ancestors who heard a growl in the bushes and assumed the Sabre-Toothed Tiger might want to be our friend this time would not have been around for very much longer. Their genes removed rather noisily from the collective pool. Assuming the worst is also an essential component of what got us to where we are today.
It’s no coincidence that dystopian science fiction is far more popular than any that depicts a blissful utopia.
All of that said, I believe that there is still a place for optimism. I don’t mean Pollyanna-style “Live, Love, Laugh” positivity, or grinning in the face of obviously awful events. But I do believe that once we accept the facts of any possible future, we can then work to make that better. Our enormous creativity – the ability to MAKE something that does not yet exist – is another of the superpowers that has enabled humans to progress in the way we have.
Think about some of the big future issues we’re facing today:
- War in Europe for the first time in decades
- Rising tensions in the Far East between the Koreas or China and Taiwan
- An aging global population
- Climate change
- The rise of AI
- Poverty and income inequality
- Debilitating illnesses such as cancer or dementia
In many of these areas, great work is already being done. But I believe that if we REALLY put our minds to it we could solve these things a lot faster than we are at present. Just look back at some of the huge achievements humankind has made when we really put our minds together. The moon landings, eradicating smallpox, the Montreal Protocol which solved the hole in the ozone layer to name just a handful.
If no one needed a defence budget, those billions of pounds or dollars would go a long way to solving climate change of curing cancer. I believe that this is the kind of joined-up thinking we’ll need to have a long-term successful future. That we need to think differently, to think globally more than we do nationally. Collectively more than selfishly.
But thinking differently, creatively, is something that humans are incredibly good at.
So in that sense I’m an optimist. I believe that we CAN build a better future for us all. It might take some shifts in the ways that we think or do things, and some of these changes might seem too big for individuals to think we can have a meaningful effect. But any big change only comes about because many individuals all take small steps in the same direction over a long period of time.
Change is a cumulative process or (to use a cliché) evolution not revolution.
Although when we imagine the future it might seem like a big and scary, even hopeless place, I believe that we CAN make it better. And just because doing so will be hard, that’s no reason not to try is it? Not to make some kind of start, however small.
We can think. We can talk. We can make plans. We can take action.
Yes, the future is big, complex and scary.
But I also believe that the future is bright.
That Richard Bloke 