Tag: future

Posted in History & Literature

Economics

Posted on by Jinavie

Early economists believed that a growing economy was a sound economy. Growth was used as a ruler to measure the health of the nation, corporations, markets and all social constructs. But it is impossible to always move forwards. In reality, a growing economy goes through cycles of growth and depression, showing a waveform on a graph. An economy without depression forms a bubble that will burst in the future, bringing a greater economic crisis. Simply put, “sound economic growth” is only achieved by the concept of two steps forward, one step back.

We have reached a point where we cannot grow despite having the potential to. Perhaps there will be no further economic growth. Only a continuous state of balancing powers will remain. A sound society, a sound nation, a sound worker… those are things that do not damage the surrounding environment or become damaged by it. We should no longer try to conquer nature and space. Instead, we must integrate with nature and the universe. Our only slogan is harmony. There should be an entwining of the external and internal world and we must live with modesty not violence. Human beings will become one with the universe. Mankind will meet an age of stability where we do not strive for the future or reach for faraway goals. Mankind will live a simple life in the present. Only then will mankind finally attain happiness.

1 + 1 = 3

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(from The Encyclopaedia of Relative and Absolute Knowledge by Bernard Werber)

Posted in History & Literature

Language

Posted on by Jinavie

If one was, for some twisted and malicious reason, wished to systematically destroy a culture, what would the first step be? Genocide? Brainwashing? The answer is destroying the native language.

Language is the skeleton that supports the culture of the people. It is an integral part of every culture that allows for effective communication of ideas and thoughts. Each language is tailor-made for a certain culture and best exhibits the culture’s character and ways. Language is one of the greatest inventions of mankind as it allowed for the preservation of thought. If you do not record thought into words, it may be distorted, warped or worse – be forgotten. Using words, one can pass on knowledge to others, even in the future. This is essentially what culture is: a collection of ideas and knowledge that we inherit from our predecessors.

As these thoughts were recorded in one language, there is bound to be some distortion during translation. We can often see examples of barriers in communication due to the inability to properly translate a word from one language to another. If you cannot describe an idea with words, it is extremely difficult to preserve the idea. Ergo, by destroying the language of the people and enforcing your own on them, you can mutilate or eradicate their culture over time. Of course, since language is a major part of the endemic culture, you have gotten off to a great start already. When the people lose their language, they become susceptible to being assimilated into another culture. Slowly, they talk and think like the oppressors until they lose all identity of their roots.

During the early 20th century when Imperial Japan was invading neighbouring countries, they used the exact same method to try and eliminate other cultures. They outlawed the native language and enforced the use of Japanese. To protect their cultural identity, Koreans (and other countries invaded by Japan) had to teach children in underground schools at the risk of torture or death. The preservation of the Korean language allowed the people to unite with strong patriotism, fuelling the resistance against the oppressors. Without the dedication of the people, who knows how much precious cultural heritage would have been lost forever.

When the people lose their language, they lose their voice. When people lose their voice, they lose their identity. When they lose their identity, they lose the fight.

Posted in Psychology & Medicine

Power Of Thought

Posted on by Jinavie

The power of thought is extremely potent. Beliefs can drive people to extreme actions, or let those who lost everything pick up and carry on. Not only does this apply to religion, but all beliefs have a powerful effect on us.

The most easily observed effect is that the mind has over the body. In the 1950s, an accident occurred where a sailor was trapped in a refrigerated container on a cargo ship. There was plenty of food, but he knew he had no hope when his fingers and toes begun to go numb, and as his body started go stiff. Instead, he decided to record the pain and suffering of freezing to death on the wall using a piece of metal. By the time the ship arrived at the port, he had already frozen to death. However, the container was not refrigerated as it was not being used – the sailor had killed himself with the power of thought.
This shows how thought affects the way we perceive the world, which forms the basis of the placebo effect. If you give a patient sugar pills and tell them it is medicine, it is common to see an improvement in their health. This is due to the body’s amazing ability to repair itself, yet the brain believes the drugs helped it recover.

Thoughts and beliefs affect society as well.
Private property, the monetary system, authority and ethics are all products of the human mind. This is called the Tinkerbell Effect, where some things only exist because people believe in them. The name comes from how Tinkerbell from the play Peter Pan is revived with the belief of children.

Furthermore, believing can determine the future. In philosophy, there is something called the Thomas Theorem, which states that “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”. For example, if there is a rumour that a bank will go bankrupt, people will withdraw their money and cause the bank to go bankrupt. 
This theorem explains self-fulfilled prophecies, a type of prediction that causes the events to take place because of the prophecies. Horoscopes and fortune telling are largely based around this effect, where telling a person that “good things will happen” (or bad) will cause the person to think positive (or negatively) and result in them acting in favour of positive results (or negative). 
This strange phenomenon is described very well in the movie “The Matrix”. When Neo visits the Oracle, she tells him “Don’t worry about the vase”. When he says “What vase” and turns around, he knocks over the vase behind him, causing it to fall and shatter. The Oracle then questions whether the vase would have broken if she had not told him about it. A similar case is seen in “Terminator” and “Back To The Future”.

As shown above, thoughts and beliefs contain immense power, and all humans need to do to make a better world is imagine and believe in such a world. However, the problem is that we seem to be unable to utilise this potential.

Posted in History & Literature

3000 A.D.

Posted on by Jinavie

How will the world change over the next millennium? Everything will change: from lifestyle and culture, to international politics and economics. This makes the posited question extremely interesting.

As science will continue to advance rapidly, technology that can only be dreamed of by modern man will become commonplace in the future. For example, computers will become essential tools such as pen and paper, or possibly become obsolete like the typewriter. Human beings will rely more and more on machines, which may lead to human-machine interfaces and cyborgs, or simply robots becoming common household appliances. Space travel will become as common as air travel, and humanity may even begin to colonise other planets or moons.
As this field can flow in completely unpredictable directions, it is extremely hard to know what will come. One thing is for sure: there is infinite potential in science for at least the next thousand years.

The continuing evolution of medicine and advanced hygiene policies will increase the lifespan of the world. This will bring upon the aging of the population, a “disease” that already plagues some developed nations. Governments may even respond with extreme solutions such as setting an age limit (or killing the elderly to change the demographics), but the more likely option is lengthening the period of youth or reversing aging to prevent the phenomenon of an elderly population.

Socially, the internet will allow for a ubiquitous society, bringing together the entire world. However, the internet is a double-edged sword that may improve interpersonal relationships, but also cause people to become antisocial and communicate only via electronic screens. Unfortunately, it is unlikely the gap between the rich and poor will be filled. The reason being, people’s basic instinct to take from others to improve their own life means that there will always be those who are rich and those who are poor.

In mankind’s history, there have been only a few empires that have survived over a millennium. Even the United States of America that currently is the leading nation is showing signs of deterioration, and China will instead rise to the top over the next few hundred years. But no one knows who will be the strongest power in the year 3000, as even a (currently) weak nation may suddenly strike and claim the throne.
For example, the Roman empire 2000 years ago, the Mongol empire 1000 years ago, and the Ottoman empire 200 years ago have all fallen and have only become pages in history books now.

Even after two vicious world wars, future nations may ignore history’s teachings and cause a third world war, which could involve the use of nuclear weapons. In this case, the world will definitely be unrecognisable compared to now. 
Alternatively, history may take a peaceful course where the concept of “nations” crumble and instead a united world is formed.

An even more interesting thought is “How will future people see us?”. As we mock the unsanitary conditions, violent history and underdeveloped science of the past, the future may laugh at concepts such as paternalism and communism, or even our fashion of jeans and shirts.
On the other hand, it is possible that works such as Harry Potter or House MD will be seen as classics and become the future Shakespearean plays.

As seen from this, the possibilities for the future are endless, and pondering the different futures sometimes bring light to ways to improve the present.

Posted in History & Literature

Cassandra

Posted on by Jinavie

Cassandra is a woman featuring in Greek mythology, who is blessed by Apollo the gift of foretelling. However, when she does not return his love he curses her to be never believed by others. This causes her the eternal suffering of seeing the future yet being completely helpless as no one will believe her clairvoyance.

This theme has been portrayed in many works, such as Twelve Monkeys where it is shown how someone who knows the future will most likely be treated as a lunatic in society. Because society has a tendency to treat anyone different to the norm as “abnormal” and therefore inferior, it is easy for a society to reject such a gift.