Visions of the future. (was: It's my turn to spam.)
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| Author | Topic: Visions of the future. (was: It's my turn to spam.) |
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Nuke and Pave
Member # 24
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 12:51
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Thank you to everybody for the congratulations. :) Diki, thank you for the very funny script. Unfortunately now that you've shown that you know too much, I have to present you with this toaster. To turn it on, just press this big red button. :) quote:Yes, this is the first meaning of the pictures: mascot of 1980 Olympics, Big Brother from the novel "1984", a cartoon about year 2000 bug, and a movie "2001: A Space Odyssey". Since people's postcounts often change shortly after a celebration thread is posted, the threads no longer reflect correct postcount, so I chose a range of pictures to keep them relevant longer. This series of pictures also has another meaning, giving this thread a more valid reason to exist: The pictures represent 4 different visions of the future.  I chose Moscow Olympics to represent the Communist utopia, a communist society where everybody is equal and there is no poverty, but no unusual wealth either. Everybody is happy, friendly, etc. (Ask TM for details. :) )  Big Brother represents a dystopia, the negative version of the heaven-on-earth described above. In dystopian society the world is a very unpleasant place controlled by nearly omnipotent evil entities which can be governments, corporations, or some other small groups.  Some speculations about Y2K bug said that the world would go back to stone age because of massive failures of electronic equipment. So the cartoon above represents an idea that some disaster will cause massive failure of society, possibly throwing us back to stone age. This disaster could include not only technological problems, but things like nuclear war, massive wars caused by global warming, etc. (In this cartoon a shaman is trying to "cure" a computer, which seems representative of the worlds of post-apocalyptic novels.)  Finally, the movie 2001 represents the opposite of the vision described above. The movie represents society similar to the one of its day, but more technologically advanced (commercial space flights, etc.) and with less political hostility (no Cold War). The idea here is that the world will go on as it always had, with technological progress slightly improving quality of life, but causing no major social changes. Which of these visions of the future seems more accurate to you? Where will the world be 50-100 years from now? -------------------- Be careful with a word, as you would with a sword, For it too has the power to kill. However well placed word, unlike a well placed sword, Can also have the power to heal. Posts: 2649 | Registered: Wednesday, October 3 2001 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 6652
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 12:59
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I doubt the Communist utopia is likely, but I still have enough shreds of optimism left to doubt the Big Brother vision. Given that there would have to be one heck of a bug to knock out all technology everywhere, I think I'll go with the 2001: A Space Odyssey vision. (Did anyone else not get that movie at all?) -------------------- But I don't want to ride the elevator. Posts: 420 | Registered: Sunday, January 8 2006 08:00 |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 13:52
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I think we all know the one I'm hoping for :P -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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E Equals MC What!!!!
Member # 5491
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 13:57
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As I understand it, 2001 was meant to be a vision of the next stage of human evolution, and this is probably clearer from reading the book. That said, I've neither seen the film or read the book, so don't take my word for anything. :P I'm calling false dichotomy (quadchotomy?) on the visions of the future selection, though. -------------------- SupaNik: Aran, you're not big enough to threaten Ash. Dammit, even JV had to think twice. Posts: 1861 | Registered: Friday, February 11 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 6652
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 14:26
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From what I heard from the Web, it's supposed to be about how technology almost destroyed us as a race. However, the director seems to have a particuar affinity for millineums-too-long scenes with bizarre sound effects and modern art. -------------------- But I don't want to ride the elevator. Posts: 420 | Registered: Sunday, January 8 2006 08:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 15:16
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Some areas will be relative utopias, some areas will be relative dystopias, and some areas will remain without much technology, but I think that the world, as a whole, will experience a future closest to 2001. Originally by Zeviz: quote:Actually, Dikiyoba recently had a toaster self-destruct, and Dikiyoba's kitchen smelled like charred toast for a full week. Dikiyoba doesn't think that Dikiyoba could handle two self-destucting toasters in one month. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 15:29
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2001 had two key points as I see it: 1) A fantasy of what if extraterrestrials seeded intelligent life on Earth (and elsewhere in the universe) and how such things would happen. 2) About how technology can have unintended consequences in the case of HAL. HAL was instructed to lie to the crew (not let them know about the alien technology) but at the same time had the built in instructs to give accurate and correct answers. The only way to satisfy both objectives was to remove the humans. At the end, Dave Bowman encounters the alien technology, is killed, and is reanimated by the monolith as sort of a computer program. Play Emulations in BoE, it uses the exact same idea with the character Drykon. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
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Law Bringer
Member # 335
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written Thursday, May 25 2006 20:38
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Congrats on (finally) reaching a celebrable post count, Zeviz! —Alorael, who expects a healthy mix of dystopia and progress. Dystopia seems to be an endemic human problem. And there's always the threat of environmental collapse, oil use catastrophe, or good ol' nuclear disaster to bring everything back to the stone age. Posts: 14579 | Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00 |
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