Reader Interview: Future Perfect

Future Perfect
Future Perfect
Back to the time travel machine, this time set to go 1000 years into the future.

What is the one magnificent human achievement you hope to find when you get there?

ADDED THURSDAY, when I finally got in here:

The vast majority of the respondents here TOTALLY misunderstood the question.

  • I don’t CARE what people think might happen in the future, and that isn’t what I asked. Predictions a thousand years ahead are a waste of time.
  • And if the destruction of humanity is your idea of a human accomplishment, you need help. Seriously.
  • Finally, PEACE without a clear and precise definition of your concept of peace IS NOT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

    If everyone is dead, that’s peace.

    If everyone is enslaved by single religion, a single government, or a single philosophy, and no one does anything to escape their enslavement because people who do are executed, that’s also peace.

    Finally, if there’s thriving commerce between nations and worlds, and people respect each other’s rights and responsibilities, and no one is trying to force someone else to do something for his own good, THAT’s peace.

    So which “peace” did YOU mean?

    “Peace” without a definition is a meaningless abstraction.

I am looking for your idea of the coolest, best, brightest, most amazing thing human beings could ACCOMPLISH in the next 1000 years. That’s it.

Things were getting a bit hot in here,
so I closed the topic.

My response is linked here.

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133 responses to “Reader Interview: Future Perfect”

  1. Duane Avatar

    Far into the future, a thousand years or so, humans are all but extinct, save for a few bands of regressed descendents of our time. Primal beings, barbarous in nature, roam the Earth, only the strongest survived the cataclysm of 2012.

    All the remained of our modern society are a few remains of concrete buildings, the Sun and the elements having all but crushed them. Shells, skeletal remains of once magnificent columns rising hundreds of feet into the sky. Paved highways once bustling with busy lives now are nothing but vague and obscure paths through dense jungles. The horrors of the last days of civilization are long ago forgotten. No records remain, only the incoherent mutterings of tales handed down from generation to generation.

    It would be thousands of years, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years before humans would begin to progress, to evolve. By that time, all traces of a once magnificent people would be gone, taken back by Nature; no bones of modern man, no concrete structures, all disintegrated and turned into the most primal of elements. And from these elements rose the next classification of humanoid, nexiod.

    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Okay. So this is YOUR idea of human accomplishment, which is what I was asking for.

      THIS IS NOT ACCOMPLISHMENT.

      You’re welcome to try again.

  2. Colin Hayvice Avatar
    Colin Hayvice

    In 1000 years time I will possibly have had 8-10 reincarnations, as will other people. As we evolve we will have learned from mistakes made in past lives (I hope this is the way it works?) So man-kind will evolved to live in harmony, if not in peace?

  3. Lynda Miller Avatar
    Lynda Miller

    That the scientist and the medical profession have found cures for the horrible diseases that afflict humans today.

  4. Grumps Avatar

    The brief question requires a brief answer: I would hope to find a huge statue of me, with the inscription ‘We should have listened to Grumps’. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  5. Nessa Avatar

    I want food with loads of taste and pleasure but no matter how much I eat during the day, the calories are never more than about 1,500 and I get all of the exercise I need while reading.

    1. claudiacv Avatar
      claudiacv

      Nessa for president!!

  6. Donald E. Allen Avatar
    Donald E. Allen

    In the year 2112 … I finally finish my novel.

    1. Nessa Avatar

      Hear, hear!

  7. Loretta Avatar
    Loretta

    I sit in my oval office feeling the exhilaration that comes from a plan that has finally succeeded after years of planning and manipulation. With my successful election comes the knowledge that the selected members of Congress have all been put into position as well as those destined to sit on the Supreme Court when the current members have passed away or chosen to retire to enjoy their remaining lives. I will appoint them. They have no debts to be paid to large corporations or people in positions of power. All issues will be resolved in a fair and logical manner. The law will be changed so that I can remain in office for 30 years. Now, we will move to correct all the wrongfulness, conniving, scheming and money driven greed that has befallen this society both at home and abroad. The leadership of Europe, Asia, Russia, Middle East and other world powers has been slowly and methodically moved into place. The New Day Order is ready to begin the betterment of society for all. Injustices will be righted. The wealth will be distributed fairly. Those blood suckers of the human society will no longer be allowed to manipulate and cause hard workers to support them. Breakers of the law will be dealt with immediately and justly. There will be no prisons sucking the money of honest people as the prisoner sit in their cells, watch television, eating and having access to drugs, phones and social networking. It all stops here and NOW. Itโ€™s a new day in the world. Let the journey beginโ€ฆ..

    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      Your definition of heaven is my definition of hell.

      I do not think we can make humanity better. Some people are walking stereotypes of everything that is wrong with people โ€” and these folks come in all races, genders, creeds, sizes, orientations, abilities, and intelligence levels. Some folks revel in cruelty. Some folks pray for chaos and destruction. “Some men just want to watch the world burn,” to quote Albert in the movie version of The Dark Knight.

      So, no, I do not think we can make humanity better, because a large portion of humanity does not want to be better. A large part of humanity just wants to be right, and to force its version of right down the throats of everyone else. Tyranny is the natural state of humankind. Infants are tyrants. Only a few ever grow out of it.

      I do not think it is our job to try to make humanity better. As above, infants are tyrants and few of them ever grow out of it. The urge to “improve” humanity is the urge to commit tyranny.

      Quoting from How To Think Sideways, Lesson 23

  8. Dyre Avatar

    It’s not an easy question. We hope to see the future in a better place, near everyone does, but we each have our own definition of better.

    For me, I hope to see more technology that helps the world and it’s people. Not so much smaller phones or faster internet, but an artificial atmosphere, more genetically enhanced foods that can grow anywhere and yield more, and something that either recycles all waste or destroys it completely. (our current methods are imperfect, but I think, in time, we could perfect them)

    The achievement I hope to see is a better understanding, and ultimately a mastery of, our world. Our environment, how it works and how to improve it.

    I don’t think it’s too hopeful, and it doesn’t mean there’s be world peace or anything quite so grand. More that there will be less fear, more time and energy to devote to other things.

    ..I would also like to see colonization of planets and common space travel, but I think everyone wants that. =)

    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      I think you’d be unhappily surprised.

      But, yes. Space colonization would kick ass.

  9. Julian Adorney Avatar
    Julian Adorney

    I hope we’ll have hugely expanded flight capacities (ie flying cars, jetpacks, etc) because flying is way too much fun to only dream of.

  10. Skipper Hammond Avatar

    From the perspective of my Michigan back porch, July 2012, with the thermometer reading between 90 and 102 every day for a couple of weeks, I’d say it would be a magnificent achievement if we can keep life alive for even 10 more years. If we can do that and learn from the experience, the next 990 will be easy.

  11. Carolyn Branch Avatar

    The world has changed so much in my lifetime, in ways that we could never have predicted even 50 years ago. The changes that might take place in one thousand years are beyond human imagination. We can only dream:

    Intergalactic space travel as easy and convenient as travel between st. Louis and Kansas City. Colonies in space providing both growing room and adventure for humans. Our earth green and no longer crowded or polluted. Easy mind to mind communication bringing instant understanding and an end to conflict. Disease is eradicated. Each person is able to stay healthy and useful until they decide for themselves it is time to move on to the next level of being.

    1. Carolyn Branch Avatar

      Whoops! I just read the question again. You asked for ONE magnificent human achievement. That’s easy – PEACE ON EARTH.

      1. Holly Avatar
        Holly

        No. Peace on Earth is actually not easy—because then you have to define it.

  12. John Melka Avatar
    John Melka

    I pondered on this quite a bit this AM and decided to play with the following: If this was 1000 AD and I was asked to say what could happen in 2000AD what might I say:
    1) That we could stop the miasmas that arise from the creek and kill off most of the villiage with black oozing sores;
    2) That men could love to the ripe old age of 45 without being twisted in pain;
    3) That Holy Mother Church would conquer the pagans and heathens in the Holy Land;
    4) That wars would not let barons and nobels strip the land of food and all our sons;
    5) That taxes not strip the food from our mouths;
    6) That one might taste meat for the evening meal more than once a month;
    7) That one might touch a book, like the Bible, in one’s life.

    I doubt that there would be anything about thinking machines, automobiles or even traveling to another moon or planet. And not because our ancestors were stupid; just that they had a much different referent than we do. As will out predicessors.

    1. John Melka Avatar
      John Melka

      But there is that Y10K problem coming up…….much closer now ๐Ÿ™‚

    2. Nessa Avatar

      A few of those are still the same.

  13. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    I’d like to see a technology that recovers lost cultural artifacts, such as ancient Greek and Roman literature, the library of Alexandria, paintings that have been destroyed or lost, the lost cantatas of J.S. Bach, the manuscripts that were destroyed in the fire bombing of Dresden in WWII, etc.

    I’d also like to see that all religion had been relegated to the dustbin of history as nothing more than ancient superstition.

    1. Holly Avatar
      Holly

      This is cool.

      On religion, I’m absolutely “anti.” On FREEDOM of religion, I’m absolutely pro, because to negate freedom of religion, you must deny people freedom of thought.

      So tell me HOW religion ended up relegated to the dustbin. If it was through ennui and people deciding it was a waste of their lives and resources, that’s great. If it was because government made it illegal, that’s horrific.

  14. Kathryn Carson Avatar
    Kathryn Carson

    2012CE+1000? More possibilities than I can count. But a few I think might be likely…

    1) Life looks much like it does now, messy and unfair, except we’ve either assimilated a smaller, curious, and/or damaged extraterrestrial species here on Earth (think District 9), or we’ve been assimilated into the empire of some more robust/intelligent/aggressive species that keeps us mostly as we are for its own purposes. We’ve been pumping electronic messages out into the ether for a long time. 3012 is more than enough time to have gotten a response.

    2) We’ve annihilated ourselves completely. Whether we accomplished it through idiocy (resource depletion, habitat destruction) or through active agency (nukes, etc.) is immaterial. We’re still gone, and the universe won’t care to reboot itself for another few trillion years. Get comfortable. The Wheel’s gonna take a _long_ time to get your spirit back onto this plane.

    3) We’ve reverted to hunter gatherers (either because we were bombed/bombed ourselves back to the Stone Age, or because of some pandemic, like Enterovirus 71 gone wild). Since by that point we’ll have consumed everything necessary for a technological society, it’ll be up to us to re-evolve along a more spiritual path. And I’m not talking about religion, either.

    In any case, I really don’t think we can sustain what we’ve got for even another century, let alone a millennium. Whatever we have in 3012, it’ll still be very human…just probably not very pretty.

    1. Kathryn Carson Avatar
      Kathryn Carson

      Heh. It says something about where my mind is at right now that I didn’t answer the question (“what’s the one magnificent human achievement I hope to see when I get there”). I instead answered in likelihoods, each of them more grim than the last.

      As for what I hope to find: Regardless of our circumstances, I hope to find religion gone, but spirituality a given. I hope to find conscious, conscientious living and dying. And I hope to find laws shaped by social justice, not by money.

      My original answer is certainly more likely. But I’ll hope nonetheless–when I’m not busy writing post-apocalyptic stuff… ๐Ÿ™‚

  15. Michael Polk Avatar
    Michael Polk

    Well, since I’m a hopeful Trekkie, I’m hoping for an Enterprise! Based on the speed of destruction of the previous Enterprises, I’m betting the Enterprise in the year 3012 would be the Enterprise-M, Enterprise-L, maybe. Universe-class. But, since I’m also realistic, alien communication plus a quadrant-wide alliance, not to mention a united planet. But the one invention I want to see is going to have to be a high-capactity, high speed starship with a life support system so that helmets and space-suits will be unnecessary. Yep, once again, I’m a Trekkie.

  16. Peter Huxley Avatar
    Peter Huxley

    Unless human nature changes, then society won’t be much different, in principle, from now. I would love to see a more harmonious society, where wealth and power are accepatble but not an obsession and where someone with money, be he a politician, entrepreneur or entertainer doesn’t think themself better than you because they have money. In this ideal world there will still be conflict as one group thinks they are better and more worthy but those who govern us don’t see that as a reason or excuse to dominate and control us or the so-called inferior group. Technologically, the risk is that with more advanced computers and robots, humans won’t have enough to do and their minds will turn to mush.

  17. Hugh Avatar
    Hugh

    I do not hope for some utopian world. Robinson Jeffers said it best: “Man’s needs and nature have no more changed in ten thousand years than the beaks of eagles.”

    But people’s modes of thinking do change, and societies change, and in a technological civilization such as we have created, change happens quickly.

    It is hard for us to understand the mindset of people who lived in the middle ages, less than a thousand years ago. This is why so many medieval fantasies sound curiously modern, or have a main character with modern and atypical views.

    Unless we blow ourselves back to the stone age, technology and the increased pace of change it brings will stay with us. The differences between today and a thousand years hence will be vastly greater than looking a thousand years in the past.

    Think: A hundred years ago, most people in this country were farmers. Even in a restless country like ours, most people lived their whole lives in the same locale where they were born.

    A prior message mentions gay marriage. We’re debating it today, but fifty years ago homosexuality was both a crime and a mental illness.

    When my grandmother was young, you traveled by train or by horse and buggy. Or you walked. In her lifetime, people developed cars and airplanes and spaceships. She witnessed people walling on the moon.

    If so much can change in one lifetime, how much will change in a thousand years? You might think it’s a cop-out, but I think there’s fundamentally no way to predict it, that history is chaotic (in the mathematical sense).

    New technologies appear and change everything overnight, often in ways that surprise us. The Pill changed all our ideas about sexuality. Cell phones mean we’re always in touch. To my grandson, the idea of not being available at any time of day or night to his social circle is not only foreign, it’s repugnant. His generation thinks nothing of posting their most intimate lives on social media for thousands to see. I can barely imagine that, and I’m witnessing it.

    Heinlein wrote a character named Slipstick Libby, so named because he could do calculations in his head that others needed a slide rule to perform. Very few people under forty today even know what a slide rule is, much less how to work one. It’s not a big thing, in terms of how we live our lives, but it shows how quickly things change. A thousand years of such changes, big and small, will pile up into a future no one can guess at.

    However, unless we get into wholesale genetic manipulation, people will still be people. The things people worry about today will be concerns in the future – how to make a living, how to find and hold a mate, how to find meaning in life, and lordy isn’t the world going to heck in a hand-bucket?

  18. Donnie Nelson Avatar

    . . . I hope in a 1,000 years, there will be hard & fast rules about when you can use your “social media” communication devices and where it is not socially acceptable. The rules would be similar to the no-smoking policies of today.

    I know this is really wishful thinking but I am truly a: Visual Futurist.

    1. Nessa Avatar

      No cell phones would be great but I’m afraid we will have implants and then there will never be any peace.

  19. shelly yergensen Avatar
    shelly yergensen

    I hope we finally figure out what makes men erupt into violence against women and children, turns them into rapists and child molestors and what makes them hurt small animals without a second thought. AND WE FIX IT!

    1. John Avatar

      And while we’re at it maybe we can find out why women are such lying, manipulative, and back-stabbing creatures. Of course that will never be fixed because we all know women are NEVER WRONG! (Just ask any husband)

      Stereotypes work in both directions.

  20. Meg Avatar
    Meg

    I’d really hope to find the apocolypse come and gone, and it having hit a giant reset button – everyone getting back to their roots, turning to old religions, trying to ressurect technology and finding out that Tesla’s plan was better than Edison’s all along… that kind of thing. I’m not gonna bother to be serious, I like my daydream too much.

    1. Ray Avatar
      Ray

      But Tesla’s plan was better than Edison’s. We know that now… we just haven’t acted on it.

      Yes, I’d like to go back, too, or at least see us adopt the best practices that we’ve cast aside in the name of “efficiency”. Stanley Steamers would cruise the roads, half timbered houses would be everywhere, people would write with fountain pens that had decent nibs like they used to be able to make (if you buy a $1,000 pen today, you’ll get a nib – which is where the rubber meets the road – that is worse than the one on a vintage pen from 1960 that you can get NOS for about $50…). We need to stop worrying about squeezing out every penny of profit by making things cheaper, and start worrying about doing them right. I’d like to see that humans had finally learned that lesson. I’m not sure I’ll hold my breath, though.

      1. Meg Avatar
        Meg

        Heh, I’m glad you’re so nice about it. I was worried people would think I sound crazy. But sometimes I look at everything that’s been lost and dropped by the wayside or undervalued, and I wonder if it’s worth the progress we’ve made. And I’m kind of fascinated by the idea of apocolypses.
        So… putting it more in an ‘accomplishment’ way, I’d have to say that, bottom line, we realize the value of what we’ve been losing, and begin to reclaim it. Whether it’s craftsmanship, steam power, Tesla’s energy plan, freedom of religion, or the understanding that some things are sacred. Maybe it’ll take an apocolypse to wake some people up. Maybe not.
        Until I see something happen, I’ll just write about it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  21. kittyb78 Avatar

    World peace without dictators.

    1. Joanna Avatar

      I’m very inclined to agree.

      I listened to The Rapture, (one of the Left Behind series) and I am hard pressed to imagine what an existence of UTTER PERFECTION would be like but it sounds like fun! No one having to scrape by; no disease or poverty or social problems. Wouldn’t be much of a world for people who thrive on sensationalism and calamity to sell papers, but a lot of people wouldn’t notice or care. There would be ONE major ruler, but He would be good. No murdering anyone. Life will be as it was once intended, back in the Garden. Perfect.

      1. Meg Avatar
        Meg

        Perfectly horrifying. No conflict under one ruler means no induviduality. I say bring back the city-states!

  22. Joan Avatar
    Joan

    In one thousand years, gay marriage will finally be a non-issue. But inter-species marriage? Aye, there’s the rub…

  23. Arizona Avatar
    Arizona

    I think in a thousand years time we will have found peace and harmony, and ventured forth. Contact with other races from other planets will give us humans a better perspective. We will acquire technological advances as well as make our own.

    We will have a busy spaceport in orbit and many exotic visitors to our lovely planet. I think a lot of us would have ventured out into space to colonize and co-colonize other planets. By then we will have mastered the art of “transporting” from one location to another on the planet. Perhaps even between one planet and another. I am certain we will also be using wormholes/bending space to transport goods even if the transporter thing does work between planets and other systems. Interstellar trade will be booming!

  24. Sheri McGathy Avatar

    This would be per land mass/country: A system that is able to divert excess water (flooding) from one area to a drought region via a series of connecting underground tunnels and gates. Or more simplistic, control of the weather. Send rain where needed, etc. Of course, either opens it up for Control of the people via controlling water, but that could work well in a story. Honestly, I really do wish we had some way now of diverting water from flooding areas to areas in need of rain via underground shafts and tunnels.

    In 1000 years, I’d like to hope there would be an end to cancer, though I suppose I fear what would swoop in to fill that vacuum. Something far worse? I’d also hope for no more genetic diseases. But what would a race be like that had no frailty? Funny how my mind thinks the future would be so much more advanced when in reality, that may not be so. All one has to do is look back in history to imagine what could happen to the future. In a 1000 years, we could just be reinventing the AC or the wheel.

    1. Michael Polk Avatar
      Michael Polk

      I like your idea of controlling where rain falls. I live in Eastern Missouri (can’t say where exactly because my mom and I have become paranoid due to too many crime shows) and we’re in the middle of a drought. Clearly there is still water to be evaporated. There’s water all over this country, so the clouds are heavy enough for rain to fall. The thing is, it’s falling everywhere else. (But what I hate most is that the grass is brown but the weeds are green. \:| )

      Anyway, the disease idea is nice, too, but I don’t think there’s anything to worry about after cancer is cured. I mean, once we’re able to make it at least chronic, well, then, we could handle anything. And I don’t think we’ll need the wheel in a thousand years. Hover-cars! Oh, yeah!

  25. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    I tend to agree with those above who have said that humanity cannot get beyond conflict and destruction. It is our way of doing things. One way or another, someone has to stir the pot, drive their own agendas forward regardless of what others think. Warfare is likely forever.

    However, I do really hope we’ll have achieved flying cars and colonization of space, even if it is only Mars.

  26. Sarah Avatar

    I would pray that human beings have learned what “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

  27. Terrie Avatar
    Terrie

    I think we will have computerized our bodies and brains. We will increase our knowledge banks and our bodies will be monitored for every incipient sign of illness. The question will be who has access. Will it be classist? Nationist? Probably. As always, the technology will have wonderful potential and the question will be how it is used.

  28. Lexi Revellian Avatar

    You’e all being very serious. I’m hoping for a flying car myself.

    1. Craig Avatar
      Craig

      I see all kinds of amazing technology that would seem like magic to us today.

      But…flying cars? That’s just crazy talk.

      (thanks to Wiley Miller and “Non Sequitur” for that quip)

        1. claudiacv Avatar
          claudiacv

          Whats the matter with you craig? Have you never seen Back to the Future? Doc Brown WILL actually invent a flying TRAIN!! …just 3 years away…

          1. Lorraine Avatar
            Lorraine

            I’m counting down. Really looking forward to those hover boards!

      1. Danzier Avatar
        Danzier

        ๐Ÿ˜€ The flying car has been invented already–there’s one in the EAA museum. It just never caught on.

  29. DragonsLady (aka Francine) Avatar
    DragonsLady (aka Francine)

    A thousand years from now I see mankind just emerging from another dark ages – this one caused by a solar flare that hit the Earth square during the 2012-2014 solar activity phase. Mankind had all kinds of electronic data storage but 99%, including all the banking, governmental, and medical information. It was totally wiped out by one massive solar flare. Anything with electronic parts stopped working. No one was prepared for it. Hundreds of millions died; the rich were the hardest hit as they depended the heaviest on their electronic support. It took a thousand years for societies to pull themselves together and grow strong again. The hubris of the technological world was defeated by the simple power of nature. Some things did get re-invented. Man didn’t have to rediscover fire; he already knew about it. He didn’t have to fight off pre-historic predators as they were gone and so were most of the “modern” predators. A majority of the predators died of starvation in zoos since the loss of technology meant no food sources were delivered and most of the cages couldn’t be opened. It’s a strange world in 3012. The question is, did man learn anything from the cataclysm?

    1. Nessa Avatar

      So all of my credit card debt gone in a poof. I like that.

  30. Mauen Avatar
    Mauen

    In one-thousand years, humanity will have destroyed itself. Period. Unless a radical shift in human psychology comes soon, all I see in any future is the incineration of the entire surface of Earth. Sad, but far more likely than most people think.
    What I would LIKE to see however, is the creation and perfection of interstellar travel. One can only imagine the possibilities that would arise with such an achievement.

  31. kelly washington Avatar
    kelly washington

    All of the above are great and well thought out. However, for me personally, in 1000 years, I’d like to see my morning coffee administered via an IV drip.

  32. Melinda Hagenson Avatar
    Melinda Hagenson

    I think thereโ€™s a difference between what I hope to find and what I expect to find.

    What I would hope to find is all the clichรฉd stuff everyone else seems to be focused on: world peace, absolute acceptance, total equality, clean air and water, a return to the small-town harmonies of the 1950โ€™s.

    Ah, were such a dream likely . . . .

    Itโ€™s not.

    A thousand years in the future, if the human species still exists at all, I suspect what weโ€™d find would be that much of the Earth has been abandoned to the ill, the homeless, and the poor. The populace of the first-world countries is heavily โ€“and voluntarilyโ€”drugged, and primary and secondary education consist almost exclusively of propagandizing that heroifies the leaders of each political territory, while higher education is maligned for proselytizing as it strives , however ineffectively, to counter the propaganda.

    Oh wait, thatโ€™s all happening right now.

    In the future . . Hmm. Far from the utopian world so many posters would like to see, I think the reality will be a dystopia beyond most peopleโ€™s wildest imaginings. The rainforests are gone, the glaciers are gone, and global warming has resulted in an almost total climate reversal for which humanity as a whole has been ill-prepared, resulting in famine and disease. All of the countries we know today, as political entities, are also gone, and their borders have been redrawn. The Great Experiment that was democracy and capitalismโ€”that is, the United States of Americaโ€”has failed for the same reason all great civilizations and political and economic experiments fail: human greed.

    But of course from the perspective of those who have benefited from the experiment, it hasnโ€™t been a failure at all. The world has returned to a form of feudalism . . oh, but again I find myself drifting back into the present.

    On the good side, there is no racial prejudice, because there are no different human racesโ€”no white, black, yellow, or red, but an amalgamation of all. Physical differences in appearance are minor. But of course that doesnโ€™t mean no differences exist, nor does it mean that equality at every level has been achieved. Far from it. People will always find a way to lord it over each otherโ€”there will always be some kind of hierarchy and some way to distinguish between the Haves and the Have Nots. And there will, as always, be many more Have Nots.

    And thus there will always, always, be war, because as always, the Good People outnumber the Bad People, but the Bad People have all the power.

    The Bad People call themselves Good People, and the drugged, propagandized bourgeoisie canโ€™t tell the difference.

    Damn, I just canโ€™t get out of the present.

  33. Chris Olson Avatar
    Chris Olson

    Hmm, what I hope for: Rebuilding after the 2nd Interplanetary War. Mankind has moved to space and colonized the solar system, taking it’s conflicts and bad habits with it.

    What I fear: A backslide to primitive times, and legends that speak of the great civilization that mother earth consumed in fury for their hubris

  34. Al Avatar
    Al

    I believe we’re looking at two different things, here. First, society must–eventually–learn to get along, or we’re doomed to waring for eternity. That would be my definition of the Christian hell.
    Someone above said: “No conflict, so no novels.” We don’t need conflict in society to write about it. We don’t have vampires. When the imagination of the people dwindles to the point we can’t make stuff up for our entertainment, then we are truly lost. Conflict or not.

  35. Cameron Mathews Avatar

    Who are we kidding ๐Ÿ™‚

    1000 years from now, we’ll be spinning on a rock around the sun, using whatever technological advancements we have to improve carrying capacity of the Earth and make ourselves look younger.

    That said, some think that the first 1000-year-old person will be born in our lifetime, given current medical advancements. So perhaps we will have to get on that carrying capacity problem sooner rather than later.

  36. Carmen Hudson Avatar

    The one biggest achievement I hope to find is clean energy. I hope to see a world where we don’t have to pollute to transport goods, transport ourselves, warm our houses, or power our devices. It will be efficient, accepted and taken in stride as the norm, and the positive results will ripple out to many other areas of life as well.

  37. Ray Smith Avatar
    Ray Smith

    What do I “hope” to find there? Peace. An end to warfare, to strife, to poverty, to hunger, to hatred.

    But, seeing as how that is almost certainly not going to happen, I will settle for effective interstellar travel and communications, so mankind can overflow into the stars.

  38. Cher (wulfie) Avatar
    Cher (wulfie)

    In order for mine to work human’s have to evolved so that they’re using another, say, 10% of their brain. This gives everyone a form of empathic telepathy that enables them to create methods of communication where they can ‘almost literally’ walk a mile in each other’s shoes. Of course, there’s kinks that need to be worked out so there’s plenty of adventures to be had – both good, bad and comedic. There’s also plenty of trouble as some want to use ‘the link’ for good, others for bad, others because they’re foolish and experimental, and the gov’t and church keep getting in the way, muddying the waters and vying for control. This would be funny, surprising, and sometimes tragic and triumphant. But we’d continue evolving and figuring it out.

  39. Raven Lockwood Avatar
    Raven Lockwood

    In 1000 years, we will have invented things that I won’t even pretend to be able to predict. Humans may not even be around then; though I’d like to believe in the good within us, the bad people seem to be the ones with the atom bombs. If we are still alive, though, then the invention that I’d like to see is an android that can hold the human consciousness. This would allow lots of things to happen, but most importantly, we could transcend disease. My mom has a multitude of chronic diseases, and I see her struggle and suffer through every day. It breaks my heart– and she’s still a functioning member of society. Think of how many people are paralyzed, maimed, horribly deformed– now think of them as androids, able to perform tasks effortlessly. It sounds like heaven to me.

    Also, with robotic abilities like super-strength, construction would be faster. Previously impossible feats could be performed. Buildings that would take decades with human workers could take merely a year for an android. Androids would also solve overcrowding– they can settle in places that we can’t. Yes, there would be drawbacks, but they could be worked through.

  40. Nessa Avatar

    Human beings don’t do well without conflict. There’s no growth when you limit people. We need problems to solve and evolve. I would love world peace and everyone getting along but I think we’d be a completely different species (and we’d be bored.)

    A 1,000 years from now, in my world, people are not using drugs to change their perception of reality. Instead, we are using our emotions and thoughts to change reality. We’ve learned to mold matter with our thoughts and feelings.

    1. John Melka Avatar
      John Melka

      “It was the dawn of the third age of mankind…”

      1. Nessa Avatar

        I’m just looking for an easier way to lose weight – i hate diet and exercise.

  41. Trask Avatar
    Trask

    A Death Star

    1. Yolanda Avatar

      And a Borg cube!

  42. Marti Verlander Avatar

    Peace on earth, good will toward men.

    And I think we’ll achieve it by imploding. Our top-heavy governmental models will collapse and we’ll return to a largely agrarian world, living in harmony with the earth and all it holds — including each other. We’ll be small communities again, banded together to help each other and be helped in turn. We’ll return to the values that go with small agrarian communities, with neighbors helping neighbors without giving it a second thought. Of course there will be hardship and strife; that’s intrinsic to human nature and all other animals. But we’ll have communities that support each other when the chips are down, much like small communities today, and especially like the ones from the 1950s.

  43. Ileana Mackenzie Avatar
    Ileana Mackenzie

    That human beings have found a safe way to save the Earth and all within it. And that they have also gained World Peace and all arguments or disagreements will never be turned into violence.

  44. Toni Walker Avatar

    I’d be interested in seeing if technology and nature could merge and what conflict that might arise from such an intigration.

  45. Dave Avatar
    Dave

    Humanity has matured beyond the need for nationalist and speciesist fantasies.

    We can embrace all other species as equals: terrestrial, extraterrestrial and synthetic.

    We are comfortable with our status as citizens of the Universe, and just another animal on this little ball of blueness.

    We, as both a species and as individuals, no longer feel the need to act out delusions of hatred, and we have discovered to our delight that this means that we no longer find ourselves pondering our loneliness.

    In other words, we have achieved the status of the truly civilised. We have returned to the state in which we began our journey so many pained and sorrowed generations ago…

    We have grown up and we have awakened – to humility, to hope and to togetherness.

  46. ok stan Avatar
    ok stan

    1000 years from now from the moment of conception all the children on the planet are told that they are loved unconditionally.

    1. Dave Avatar
      Dave

      What a magnificent idea!

  47. Phil Avatar
    Phil

    Freedom from religion.

    I’ve known a few people — refugees from the Soviet Union, et cetera — and through them I’ve seen how important religion can be to some people (their freedom in the US to practice their beliefs openly, unlike in the USSR). So I would never want to ban or prohibit religion.

    But I would like to see belief in a supernatural deity marginalized to a small frings element, and I’d like to see those who have such beliefs regarded as kooks. In other words, I’d like to see *all* religious people regarded in the same way that a present-day person is who, say, worships Zeus, Aphrodite, etc.

    Society is moving in that direction. Hopefully a thousand years from now it will be there.

    1. Phil Avatar
      Phil

      Also … “there’ll be Spandex jackets, one for everyone!” ๐Ÿ™‚

      1. John Melka Avatar
        John Melka

        And shorts to match????

        1. Phil Avatar
          Phil

          LOL I dunno; the song lyrics didn’t say.

  48. John Melka Avatar
    John Melka

    The human race has achieved Homogeneity in attitude towards all living beings, human, alien, animal, plant, and all combinations in between. Hate, except towards the weather, is a foreign concept. Exploitation is a foreign concept (except for exploitation of chocolate resources). And “-phobia” is a treatable condition.

    1. John Melka Avatar
      John Melka

      How’s that for Star Trek-ian!

      1. Phil Avatar
        Phil

        Respectfully … yes, it does sound like Star Trek to me, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. It’s nice to talk about abolishing hate, but I’ve never understood how you can love anything without hating its opposite. How can you love freedom without hating slavery? How can you love tolerance without hating bigotry? Et cetera.

        1. John Melka Avatar
          John Melka

          If we can remove the “-phobia” from certain acts, eg. homophobia, xenophobia, racism, sexism, to name a few, the differences that once distinguished us are now what they really are nothing or artificial. What we fail to realize is that, from a genetic standpoint, there is greater variation in any tribe of chimps than the ENTIRE OF THE HUMAN RACE. So the real point I am raising, is to get it out of the way of us, and replace it with compassion.

        2. Cas Avatar
          Cas

          There are many things in this world that I dislike!
          But I do not hate anything. To me hate is such a distrutive force, it only rebounds back on the person or persons who send it! So I simply refuse to hate anything. So it can be done. You can love something without hating the opposite.

    2. Lexi Revellian Avatar

      Ah…no conflict, so no novels, then?

      Too high a price to pay…

      1. John Melka Avatar
        John Melka

        Just because the humans have evolved, doesn’t mean everybody has. Remember the Vorlons in Babylon 5? Both they and the shadows had evolved beyond the internal discrimination stage, but had VERY different philosophies of how the “kids should be raised” about the younger races. And my comment was only for the Humans.

        1. Lexi Revellian Avatar

          I know not these Vorlons of which you speak. But don’t you know that it doesn’t work if all the good guys get on? In any film you can name that’s worth watching, there’s all sorts of disagreements and conflicts between the protagonists, even when they have a common aim. Fiction needs friction.

          1. John Melka Avatar
            John Melka

            Hence the careful framing. Hate is not friction. And vice versa. (The Vorlons were the evolved beings, members of the 1st races, along with the Shadows, on the Babylon 5 Sci Fi TV Show. It happens on a space station that is supposed to be interface point for all the races in the known universe.)

            1. Lexi Revellian Avatar

              Ooh, I don’t know – if you hate someone you may have a strong desire to show him up, out-perform him, steal his woman, or kill him. I think that might add a little friction to a story…

  49. Martin Vavpotic Avatar

    Mostly, I hope human beings will learn that technological advancement is pointless just for the sake of making new toys. I hope money will no longer be a driving force of development but something nobler. Perhaps this purpose has not been invented yet so there’s no specific answer I can give.
    In truth, development has had a single objective and that is to promote human laziness. Why walk for months when you can simply take a seat in an aeroplane and be there in two hours? Of course this is not just a bad thing, since making some things simpler gives us more time to do other stuff. But if that simply means wasting all the free time on new toys, the purpose has really stopped being useful.
    There are some areas where technology is vital to survival: medicine, habitat planning, geology, astronomy. Today’s technology is only good as long as people buy it and for no real purpose other than buying it. Technology should be a servant of mankind; it should be a tool, not a luxury good where possession of it is its main purpose.
    Human beings tend to think too literally and that’s why we usually need a tangible purpose. The best thing I look forward to in the future is that people will be able to think more abstractly and therefore intangible purposes will suffice.

  50. Carol Englehaupt Avatar

    My opinion about what 1000 years in the future will hold depends on decisions made now. Sometimes I think humans will use their brains and figure out a way to live in harmony with the planet and with each other. In that case I think there would have to be limits on how many children a couple could have.

    The computer age will be so advanced we can’t even comprehend the changes it will make.

    When I slide to the dark side I think we’ll wipe ourselves out with war and overpopulation. And civilization will backslide. In that scenario I picture it like Atlantis sinking beneath the water. And mankind has to start all over again.

    I prefer the learning to live in harmony with our planet and each other. Although, Utopia might be more boring and if I’ve learned one thing in life, it’s that man needs a challenge. It’s just part of the beast. Keep it busy or run for cover.