Tom
An Old Friend
When you think about the future, do you see a bright, shiny world that’s free of disease, war and poverty or do you see a barren, smoldering landscape with scattered humans trying desperately to survive? Are you a pessimist or an optimist, a realist or a pragmatist? Out there somewhere is a futuristic world waiting for you. These are broad generalizations and not full plot synopses– just something to give you an idea of where you stand.
Star Trek
A Star Trek future is both social and humanitarian utopia. While there’s still bad guys in the universe, humanity is in a golden age, both socially and personally. There’s no war among humanity, no money and little strife. Humans have learned to embrace each other’s differences, wear matching Spandex suits and live in a shiny, clean, beautiful world. This is a dominant theme in early sci-fi– the idea that through technology and time, all ills of human life– war, poverty, disease, pollution and traffic jams can and will be eliminated. This is pretty much the kind of futuristic utopia envisioned by Walt Disney when he built Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. There’s also the cynical side of the utopian future– one echoed in Logan’s Run, and Demolition Man– that underneath the glitz, the shine and the order is an inherent wrongness.
Examples of sci-Fi that reflect this: Star Trek, Logan’s Run, Demolition Man
Pros:
There’s no rich or poor, black or white, red states or blue states and everyone sings Kumbayah all night and all day.
Cons:
Under all that perfection often comes with a price– either lack of physical contact, restrictions on speech or travel or something equally reeking of Communism.
Underlying outlook:
The future is very bright and at one point, humanity will reach a beautiful golden age that will last a million years. Human beings deep down are good and would love nothing more than to get along.
Star Trek
A Star Trek future is both social and humanitarian utopia. While there’s still bad guys in the universe, humanity is in a golden age, both socially and personally. There’s no war among humanity, no money and little strife. Humans have learned to embrace each other’s differences, wear matching Spandex suits and live in a shiny, clean, beautiful world. This is a dominant theme in early sci-fi– the idea that through technology and time, all ills of human life– war, poverty, disease, pollution and traffic jams can and will be eliminated. This is pretty much the kind of futuristic utopia envisioned by Walt Disney when he built Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. There’s also the cynical side of the utopian future– one echoed in Logan’s Run, and Demolition Man– that underneath the glitz, the shine and the order is an inherent wrongness.
Examples of sci-Fi that reflect this: Star Trek, Logan’s Run, Demolition Man
Pros:
There’s no rich or poor, black or white, red states or blue states and everyone sings Kumbayah all night and all day.
Cons:
Under all that perfection often comes with a price– either lack of physical contact, restrictions on speech or travel or something equally reeking of Communism.
Underlying outlook:
The future is very bright and at one point, humanity will reach a beautiful golden age that will last a million years. Human beings deep down are good and would love nothing more than to get along.