“As a relatively privileged European man of the late Middle Ages, Dante certainly shares - despite his intellect and imagination - many views that we moderns might rightly consider unenlightened. These could include religious and ethnic intolerance, a reductive attitude toward women, and a heterosexist understanding of love and sexuality. In some respects - for instance, his advocacy of the empire (and opposition to more democratic, republican ideas) - he could be considered reactionary even for his own time and place.”
While we might think of ourselves as enlightened, open-minded people today, what might our descendants say about us a century or two from now? What specific issues or attitudes do you think will change so much in the future that our current views may come to be seen as "medieval"?
While we might think of ourselves as enlightened, open-minded people today, what might our descendants say about us a century or two from now? What specific issues or attitudes do you think will change so much in the future that our current views may come to be seen as "medieval"?
Well for one thing I think that we as humans will through some means or another, manage to kill ourselves off before then, (Global warming, Nuclear War, Intelligent robots,over population, the end of the mayan calendar, etc...)but on the off chance we suceed in surviving that long I think several Modern American attitudes will have changed.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I believe that future intelligent life will view the process of microwaving as absolutely ludicrous. "Hey guys let's blast our food with radiation and so we can heat it slightly faster." The concept seems absurd even now, yet I personally use the microwave on a near-daily basis. Perhaps this low concentration isn't enough to kill me but that's not all. Cell phones, satellites, tv broadcast, even wireless internet use readiation to function. All of this passes through us constantly, and we're only beginning to see the effects. Check out this link.
http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/radiation/health_efx_western.htm
We actively radiate ourselves as a people daily, causing cardiac, reproductive, and social disorders, not to mention cancer in extreme cases. All this just to get our information, entertainment, and food slightly faster. Is it really worth it?
I know that in a century or two, just like we think that people in the past made dumb mistakes that could have easily been fixed were solved in ridiculous ways, so could the next centurys generations.
ReplyDeleteI would say that cell phones would have a big effect. They will probably have phones with holographic technology with thought controlled dialing, who knows. But they will wonder who is the genious who decided to make you waste the time with dialing keys? Its how every generation evolves.
Just like microwaves, cell phones also send off electro magnectic waves, yet we all continue to use them. People use headsets as an excuse but their not as safe as assumed.If you scroll down a little on this link, there is some information on that : http://www.mercola.com/forms/ferrite_beads.htm
Willy and Danielles comments reminded me of Feed, if any of you read that last summer. I have to start by saying that the lightbulb in your microwave is more dangerous than the microwaves themselves. The wavelength of microwaves is much longer that UV rays and even visible light, making it much less damaging to cells.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I think that every generation views the last as old fashioned, so I can only imagine that 200 years from now we will seem the same. Think about people's beliefs and customs in 1809 - that was less than 30 years after the end of the Revolutionary War. I think the biggest change will come in how materialistic people are. Back in the early 1800's, people were happy just to have food and a roof over their heads. Now we are deprived if we don't have the latest xbox game or the nicest car. I can see this getting a lot worse as time goes on, until the completely marketing-driven world of Feed isn't that farfetched.
I would like to think that somewhere along the line the world would realize that simplicity is more satisfying than modernization, and revert back to older methods of living. However, no on in their right minds would do that. everything we use today was never even thought of 200 years ago. we consider 8-track tapes, and atari "old school," but my parents used those. within the next 200 years we will more than likely not use anything that we use today. what are cell phones when you can communicate mentally across the globe? What is food when you can gain sustenance from nutrient particles floating in your oxygen. (assuming we can still go outside then.) I don't see humans living in houses, but a sort of living arrangement seen in "the 5th element."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiAWRmnolm4
(if this doesn't work, just go on youtube
and look up "the fifth element, part 3)
(the first minute or two will suffice.)
I don't know what year this movie was fashioned after in the future, but this is at least a vague representation of the possibilities of the future. for any of you who have seen the movie in its entirety, or read Feed, you have seen a single representation of "the future."
i have to agree with everyone. Some people who walk around with those little headset things attached to their ear, that can't be good for their brain cells. That constant stream of radio waves can't be healthy for you.
ReplyDeleteI think that the people of the future will look back on everything we have today will seem prehistoric to the people of future generations. Especially at the rate we are developing now. Heck even Ipods fade out after a couple years. I can't even imagine what everything will be like in 20 years. It makes me think of The Jetsons. And how futuristic everything is. In future generations, they will look back on us and see that like what we do everyday and even how we travel. Our new, hot, sleek, and modern cars we have today. Will probably become the next run down clunkers in the future, if they even drive cars. i can see them driving flying cars, and weird spacey objects.
Like many of you, I think that many of the items we utilize today will seem "historic" in the future. But let's not move too far away from the prompt, which asks us to ponder what ideas, issues, and attitudes that may be frowned upon in the future.
ReplyDeleteI like Mark's theory of returning too simplicity. If not from want then, i think we'll arrive from need. I think 200 years from now many of the properties and estates used today will seem outlandishly selfish. Over population could very well drive people into close quarters living such as we already see in large cities; especially in Japan and other ridiculously crowded areas. Perhaps even the entire concept of real estate ownership will dissipate as well.
ReplyDeleteI think in a few generations, our descendents will frown upon "all-over" body art. Think about it, you barely ever see elders with tattoos, and when you do they just have one or two. But teenagers and people in their 20's are now often covered in tattoos. What will they look like when they're 80 years old, all wrinkly and covered in tattoos?
ReplyDeleteOh wait, you can see an example if you go to this link.
http://ballyhooligan.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/old-tattoo-man.jpg
I agree with everyone here. I believe that eventually our own technology can ruin us. A hundred years ago, before computers, xbox, cell phones, kids could entertain themselves for hours playing outside, being active. This evolving technology has made people become like zombies just staring at the screens of computers or play stations, instead of going outside, being active and getting fresh air.
ReplyDeleteHowever, is the air really fresh? Of course it is not as fresh as it was back then. Now we have to worry about factories, cars, electricity, all those things that contribute to global warming.
Yes in the future I am sure we will have even greater technology that an cause our world to be like the one in Feed, but it is likely that some technology - like medical discoveries or something- can be invented to reverse the effects of Global Warming. Or medical discoveries could reverse all the radiation that people encounter everday. I mean some things that people did back many many years ago, we have invented something new to help. For example the refrigerator. Before those, people rubbed thier meat in salt so it would stay fresh. The invention of the regrigerator has made meat healthier for people. The future has many possibilities and mysteries.
I think in the future many things will change. Like things that are frowned upon now, wont be frowned upon then. Or things that are not frowned upon now, will be then.
ReplyDeleteLike back in the 40's or 50's it was frowned upon for young people like teenagers to have sex. If you ever saw a young teenage pregnant girl in your school, she would probably be outcasted by her friends and community. However, now you can probably say that sex is more common amongst teenagers. If you look through our school you can see that teen pregnancy is more commmon than it was back then. So it is still frowned up I guess you would say, but it is not like its a huge disgrace as it was back then.
Since Global Warming is a huge deal right now, in the future a thing that can be considered frowned upon is being wasteful. Like now a lot of people recycle and use the more efficient light bulbs and car pool, however its not enough to save he planet. In the future, after we see some great effects on the earth from Global Warming, maybe it will become more prevalent to where everyone recycles, and car pools, and uses the more efficient light bulb like it was an every day thing. And that if you didnt do those things, you would be considered wasteful anf dfrowned upon.
As we know people have evolved and will keep evolving, until eventually our race is gone.
As many people say "history repeats itself". Back in like the Salem witch trials, people were hung if they were considered a witch. Being hung was like a death sentence to the people, and they accepted it. Now, if someone was to be hung as a death sentence it would be a huge problem or story that everone heard about. Now many people have a controversy over our current death penalty. Many believe its inhumane to kill someone, no matter the crime they commited. Maybe in the future, the death penalty will be banded, like being hung, and then it would be frowned upon if ever used.
Shanya makes an interesting point when she talks about hanging use to be acceptable to view and now is considered barbaric. I don’t know if anyone else has read the book 1985, but it was written by a man in the 1940s who predicted the future and it once again was acceptable to have public hangings. These kids in the story were upset because their father wouldn’t come home in time to take them to the hanging.
ReplyDeleteIn the story it talks about how the government completely controlling our lives and even has the “thought police” and the government is known as “big brother”, they are always watching you. What if our government succumbs to this? Controlling every aspect of our daily lives, not even be free to think what you wish. What if the people in the future find our constitution ludicrous and believe that our generation was too rebellious?
After reading Willy’s comment I thought of the Stephen King book titled The Cell about total human control because of a signal sent out through cellphones. Yes, the idea of humanity turning into bloodthirsty zombies due to a cellphone signal is a little far fetched, but at least we know there are others thinking the same way about technology and the effects it has on us..
ReplyDeleteFor our future, I want to believe that we will evolve from being self-destructive and come to terms with healthier life styles. We’ve already begun the “Going Green” process. Hopefully this project will help us achieve such a goal. Here’s a video of an “Eco-Friendly” home. Could it be the house of our future?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dZVIBhKqWc
And what if the future holds more knowledge and ideas that will preserve our planet and our bodies better. Just picture a world without smoking. It seems we are getting closer to this idea, but what if we managed to eliminate it all together? What if we found a cure for cancer or AIDS? Not just a treatment, but a cure. I hope our future is capable of these possibilities.
Oh, and what about the idea of ending racism and homophobia? How far away is that future, if it is even possible?
Initially, I thought our pornography industry would be one of the things our descendants would look back and think of as barbaric. But then I got to thinking...our ancestors lived lives with prostitutes. Even back in Jesus time! I mean, whether or not you believe in everything with the bible or religion, the early church announced Mary Magdalene a prostitute. They recently renigged that title, but for a long time it remained. So even if she wasn't, there were still prostitutes back then. Seeing as it's only gotten progressively worse, I wonder what it will be like in a century or two.
ReplyDeleteI think most of our issues will remain. Things that were mentioned about Dante, like religious intolerance, although it's gotten better, still persists in our world. However, what makes me curious is what our arts will be like. Will we even use paints anymore? Will any music be acoustic? Will there even be literature and what will be great historical works by that time?
Well, I think someday, commenting what emily said that racism will end. The generations that have gone through rasisim, and their kids, are getting older and dying and with them the belif that a diffrent race is inferior to another. That future, is close but not going to be seen in our time I think. Mostly because our generation has seen alot of hate, and intolerance.
ReplyDeleteEmily has a good idea about racism and homophobes. I kind of think opposite of Merissa though. I honestly can't see that happen though. I think there will always be some form of racism. Whether it be "discreet racist jokes" or ignorant racist comments towards others. The world population is nearly 6,944,917,655 and counting. There might be a possibility of ending racism in America, but that's only a small portion of the world..
ReplyDeleteOr it could be vise versa. Maybe racism will end in Europe, but not America. The only way to find out is sit here and wait. And not contribute to racism of course.
I like Merissa’s comment about how our grandparents and great-grandparents have different emotions towards racism and homophobia. But I have to agree with Zach’s viewpoint. Even though I like to imagine a world without racism and homophobia, I don’t think it would be possible. I believe humans, as a specie, are designed in such a way that we are prone to being judgmental towards things/others that are not similar to ourselves. And we couldn’t make the racial/homophobic expressions illegal because that would interfere with Freedom of Speech.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated J. Polk's contribution at the end of her post. What if the government influences the people of the future even more than it already does. Our rights have become noticeably more limited even as far as I can remember. You can no longer fight for your own safety in public schools anymore, for example. As far as what will be frowned upon, I would say that the inefficiency of our government will definitely be mentioned. I'm sure that a different political view will take over democracy, as democracy did the monarchies. A completely new group with foreign beliefs will spend countless objects of monetary value (I doubt U.S. currency will survive) on "ridding the world of democracy." Everything will be frowned upon, and considered foreign. That is the way of the world.
ReplyDeleteI think that the return back to a simpler time will happen. Cause technology can only take us so far. So at what point will people hundreds of years from now just decide to wipe the slate clean and start over with everything. Seeing what we have done wrong and learning from it. Could we then have a functioning and peaceful society?
ReplyDeleteI think that ashley does make a point. no matter how much we try and outlaw certain prejudices, i think it will just get worse as time goes on. Cause not only is it passed down from generation to generation, and yes it is possible to not have the same feelings about it as your ancestors, but at the same time there are things always going on in our society today that the media illustrates, making it a new unexplored topic to people that haven't necessarily experienced it before. Is it possible for a society years from now to not have the same issues with prejudice, race, and differences, as we have today?
I really liked shaynas comment on how the economy and the new technology has changed the activity level in kids. From the convienience to fast food and the entertainment that leads to sitting on your couch for 6 straight hours. They think that the obesity rate is bad now? Just wait until technology continues to improve and they keep finding conviences for everything else. Hopefully people will open up their eyes to the effects that these things have on them, and make changes.
ReplyDeleteI think body image will be something people in the future will look back and see how rediculous we can get. We worry so much about how we look. And we have so many things to fix our flaws. Surgery, makeup, and weight loss products. All of these things surround our everyday lives. And maybe in the future no one will care as much.
ReplyDeleteI also think that racism and things of that nature will never come to an end, we want it to, but people will always judge each other. There is no way to get rid of that. As long as we are all different we will all judge each other.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Zach that racism will always be an issue. Even if most people are not racist, the will still be a few. Even if no one is racist there will still be actions that unintentionally offend someone from a different background.
ReplyDeleteI also like the angle Julie and Mark took about government control. It reminded me of the short story "Harrison Bergeron". Check it out:
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html
This was one of the few things I read last year that I truly appreciated.
Between what Julie and Mark have been saying, it makes me wonder about our government more and more. It seems I've been thinking about it on both blogs tonight. Mark, you said that we are no longer allowed to fight for our safety in school. I've heard that but I didn't know if it were true. It is comprendable though that such a thing would happen. Our rights as we continue our lives are being limited, or our they? A lot of rules with cell phones and online social networking are being put into place, but that may be due to the fact that there are more varieties of crimes to be committed. Just think, people didn't have the problems we have now back then. There are so many laws set into place now about not even Spanking your child because it might be considered "Child Abuse". I hate that people consider alternate ways to discipline their child like haveing them sit on the "Naughty Mat" or something like that. Heck I got the paddle when I was a kid, and I'm proud to say that I think my parents have raised me in a correct mannor. Cant people tell that our generation is getting out of hand just a bit? Things arent the same as they used to be. And I only fear it will get worse. Setting up restrictions is getting out of controll, and their are laws preventing many other related issues. I am glad to know that the human life span is only averaged at 87 years. I dont want to be around when our planet falls apart with government and societys clashing to gain controll of each other.
ReplyDeleteA few comments above talked about or mentioned body image. I find this a very interesting this to think about in the future. A few years ago I read "The Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld. If you haven't read it, I advise it. I'm usually not into books (or series for that matter) about things that seem so "teenage girl" ish, but these books really had more to say than what I expected. In this futuristic series, when each person is born, they are put into a section of their community called "the uglies." This is where they grow and mature naturally. When they reach a certain age, they are moved to a section called "the pretties." Before you move to this section, you undergo surgery to perfect your physical appearance and pretty much all you do is party and improve your looks. There really is not much thought and definitely no intellectual thought because another thing that is taken away when one moves into the pretties section is their freedom of thought. They are brainwashed. Of course there is much more to the series, but I wonder if we will one day end up in a world like that, where all that matters is physical appearance unless you are one of the few authorities in charge.
ReplyDeleteI think something that has been in decline and will continue to decline is the meaning of marriage. Rarely do I see a marriage that is truly functional and fewer couples are choosing to wed. Our divorce rate is something around 50%. Marriage just doesn't mean what it used to. And unfortunately, I think that percentage will only increase. I often wonder- Why has our perception of love changed over time? Is there any hope for us?
ReplyDeleteThe appearance comment got me thinking. I mean, I spend so much time each day picking out my outfit everyday and fixing my hair until it is perfect.And then there's make-up. I wonder if future generations will look back on us and almost think of us as narcissistic. I think about it now and we waste so much time worrying. We also waste a lot of money. will future generations have spent less money than us? Or Will they become more materialistic than we are now? Mabye they will go back to older ways of thinking and living so we can start over. Or is that possible?
ReplyDeleteCommenting on Caitlin, I've thought about that too. I believe that sadly, It will eventually become rare to have a marriage. My 80 year old great grandma got divorced when she was 20 and hasn't re-married, she just has a ton of boy friends. Which is odd, since she's part of our older generation which held stronger views on marriage. So it worries me. People will always be attracted to each other, but I don't think marriages will happen to often. I hope that eventually marriage will get it's meaning back. If it didn't and in the future no one cared very much about it, there would be some very messed up family tree's.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ashley's comment about body image [uglies and pretties]. I think it is more likely that society will move in that direction rather than a direction where people are happier with themselves. Women used to be considered beautiful when they where voluptuous (I hope I spelled that right). Take the goddess Venus for instance. I visited the Metropolitan in New York City over the summer and there were a ton of paintings of her. In each one, she was a woman with curves and she had some extra meat on her bones. She was considered one of the most beautiful creatures to exist. When did that change? and why? Who decided that our perception of beauty was not good enough? Now, I know many people still find that beautiful but society as a whole now believes that beautiful=thin.
ReplyDeleteI had a feeling that someone would bring up the marriage thing, and I noticed someone also put something about History Repeating itself. Think about this. Didn't people back in Egyptian times and Roman times have like 10 wives? Eventually in like the 19th century people started being more and more strict with marriage. Divorces were not heard of and if they were, they were definately frowned upon. Now, however, the divorce rate is getting out of hand, people marry one day then split the next. I personally think it's a sign of our irresponcible generation. Check out the statistics below.
ReplyDeletehttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/USNEWS/070510/AP_DIVORCE_RATE.gif
They may be dropping finally, but still look at where its at compared to the 1920's
I disagree with Mr. Sanders, I don’t think our generation is irresponsible about marriage, it is just more acceptable. While before it was considered dishonorable to be divorced, especially for a woman. People just accepted that they were unhappy in their marriage, however, now people are not afraid to say that our relationship isn’t working.
ReplyDeleteI too have read “The Uglies” and agree with Ashley. I think that we already live in a world that is consumed by physical appearance. If you look at television it seems that all little talent is left and actors are only hired because of their physical appearance. People do extreme things to try to be “beautiful”. Maybe in the future we will be less obsessed with our appearance but somehow I think that it will only get worse.