Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The Clock of the Long Now
*Note: this entry stems from ideas presented in an article in the Jan/Feb issue of Details Magazine; The Future is Now; Michael Chabon; pgs. 90-92.
Talk about learning something new everyday. In this article that I just finished reading 10 minutes ago I found out that there are scientists (of some mathematical discipline) that are creating a clock that is set to run for 10,000 years. No, that's not a type-o. The specific purpose of the clock, from my opinion of the article, is not as important or intriguing as what it says about us in the present.
What is your first memory of the future, your real first memory? Is it The Jetsons (a cartoon brought up frequently in the article)? The Time Machine? Soylent Green? Total Recall? Max Headroom? Back to the Future Part II? The Matrix? Or the soon-to-be-released V for Vendetta?
Every one of those fictional titles probably brings up a specific but extremely distinct vision of the future. Some steeped in fantasy and hope, others mired in helplessness. Now what if we were to separate these, and other depictions of the future, into those two categories? Notice as we go from old visions of the future to newer ones that they become more and more desperate and violent (for the most part). Some of them even depict the world teetering on the edge of a man-made Apocolypse, and those same visions depict an end point closer and closer to the time we live in now.
What happend to the desire? What happend to the enlightenment? What happend to the World's Fair? Sometimes its the hope and excitement of what the future holds that gets us as society through seemingly tough times. But are times now too tough to see past the seemingly infinately high brick wall that separates us from the possible truth?
Why do we scare ourselves like this? Why do we project our opinions and spin them in to doom and gloom? Anything that presents the future to us for entertainment purposes these days becomes too caught up in preaching to us about choices we make and how every one changes the future in big or small ways. I get it, please don't shove another story down my throat about machines taking over, or the moon falling from the sky, or Manhattan being burried in a thousand feet of snow. It's boring, redundant and it accomplishes exactly the opposite of what it sets out to do. It doesn't make me think of how to make things better, but that it doesn't matter what I do, because we're all fucked in the end anyway.
Put out a movie or a book or a show, or even a damn website that gives me something to look forward to. Give me a goal; I'll figure out the steps along the way. But give me (and everyone) the chance to make it right. Don't damn me before I get started (this means you Wachowski Brothers, Warner Bros. Studios, Christian Extremists, Japanese Anime producers and whomever decided that the Book of Revelation needed to be included in the Bible.)
So 10,000 years from now (March 15, 2006 AD) when The Clock of the Long Now winds down; when humans from the Milky Way travel to visit humans who live in some other far off galaxy; when we have transcended the need for religion; when we all drive flying bubble cars; when no one starves and when an education is valued more than currency I hope someone comes across this blog entry and has a side-splitting laugh over our stupidity and blindness at our expense.
I plan on living forever like Walt Disney - I'll be sure to say 'hi' to that person for you.
Talk about learning something new everyday. In this article that I just finished reading 10 minutes ago I found out that there are scientists (of some mathematical discipline) that are creating a clock that is set to run for 10,000 years. No, that's not a type-o. The specific purpose of the clock, from my opinion of the article, is not as important or intriguing as what it says about us in the present.
What is your first memory of the future, your real first memory? Is it The Jetsons (a cartoon brought up frequently in the article)? The Time Machine? Soylent Green? Total Recall? Max Headroom? Back to the Future Part II? The Matrix? Or the soon-to-be-released V for Vendetta?
Every one of those fictional titles probably brings up a specific but extremely distinct vision of the future. Some steeped in fantasy and hope, others mired in helplessness. Now what if we were to separate these, and other depictions of the future, into those two categories? Notice as we go from old visions of the future to newer ones that they become more and more desperate and violent (for the most part). Some of them even depict the world teetering on the edge of a man-made Apocolypse, and those same visions depict an end point closer and closer to the time we live in now.
What happend to the desire? What happend to the enlightenment? What happend to the World's Fair? Sometimes its the hope and excitement of what the future holds that gets us as society through seemingly tough times. But are times now too tough to see past the seemingly infinately high brick wall that separates us from the possible truth?
Why do we scare ourselves like this? Why do we project our opinions and spin them in to doom and gloom? Anything that presents the future to us for entertainment purposes these days becomes too caught up in preaching to us about choices we make and how every one changes the future in big or small ways. I get it, please don't shove another story down my throat about machines taking over, or the moon falling from the sky, or Manhattan being burried in a thousand feet of snow. It's boring, redundant and it accomplishes exactly the opposite of what it sets out to do. It doesn't make me think of how to make things better, but that it doesn't matter what I do, because we're all fucked in the end anyway.
Put out a movie or a book or a show, or even a damn website that gives me something to look forward to. Give me a goal; I'll figure out the steps along the way. But give me (and everyone) the chance to make it right. Don't damn me before I get started (this means you Wachowski Brothers, Warner Bros. Studios, Christian Extremists, Japanese Anime producers and whomever decided that the Book of Revelation needed to be included in the Bible.)
So 10,000 years from now (March 15, 2006 AD) when The Clock of the Long Now winds down; when humans from the Milky Way travel to visit humans who live in some other far off galaxy; when we have transcended the need for religion; when we all drive flying bubble cars; when no one starves and when an education is valued more than currency I hope someone comes across this blog entry and has a side-splitting laugh over our stupidity and blindness at our expense.
I plan on living forever like Walt Disney - I'll be sure to say 'hi' to that person for you.
// posted by ProudJock Matt @ 1:49 PM 
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