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When considering the future of humanity some names come to mind more readily than others. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell for example. The first for his 1932 Brave New World and Orwell, of course, for 1984, albeit published in 1948.
Their visions of the future differ widely, Huxley’s being a decidedly more attractive version than Orwell’s. Until you dig more deeply.
With Huxley we have much more in the line of sex, feelies and drugs to keep the people quiet. Still controlled but acquiescent. No rock’n’roll though as he was 20 years or so too soon. Soma, the happiness drug of choice plus abundant sex did the trick. The populace were happy and cheerfully did as they were told. Workers playtime writ large.
Not so the denizens of Orwell’s vision of mankind’s future. They had perpetual war between the 3 power blocs of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia over such of the planet as presently remained outside their domain. In order effectively to pursue their martial aims the rulers of Oceania (modern day Americas, UK, Australia, Southern Africa) imposed upon the people a totalitarian regime of oppression, torture, thought police and the compulsory worship of Big Brother.
Neither dystopian vision is at all comforting but they pale into insignificance when compared to the vision of E. M. Forster, of all people, writing over 100 years ago. 1909 to be precise.
Where his imagination led him in his short story “The Machine Stops” bears more relation to where we are presently going than either of the visions of Huxley or Orwell.
Forster posited a future reminiscent of where Artificial Intelligence (AI) could take us albeit written many decades before computers became commonplace. The world he envisaged is unfortunately to be seen in embryo in many mores of the modern world.
Forster’s people lived in underground cells, fed and watered by the Machine, which they came to worship. It provided all their needs and simple face to face contact was actively discouraged.
Mobile phones, iPads and home computers already provide a nascent burgeoning of such behaviour. Next time you sit down anywhere to eat, take a look around you. How many fellow diners are to be seen on their mobiles?
Walk along any street and see how many look at their phones rather than where they are going.
How often do you meet a friend rather than text or WhatsApp them?
Thus it begins and whilst the future might not involve underground cells, mere human contact could well become the exception rather than the rule. All hail AI.
Already the actual contemplation of the extinction of 90% of the human race has become a quasi religion for the self-styled “elite” who cannot really abide the continued existence of us scruffy, mere mortals going about our quotidian business as we have done for 200,000 years or so.
Best remove us from the planet via the odd pandemic or war. Aliens next? They take us all for fools and, sadly, in too many cases they are right.
But, and it’s a big but, humankind is not yet amenable to the imposition of a collective death wish and rejection of the schemes designed to destroy us is growing apace through the medium of the free speech not yet wholly expunged from the collective psyche.
Que sera, sera but hope springs eternal in the human breast, a point perhaps overlooked by those who wish us ordinary folk harm.
Remember at all times – we are many, they are few. And generally old.
As Cato would have it – Carthago delenda est.
For Carthago read WEF.
He got his way and perhaps we shall get ours.
Foootsoldier Says… 