You want to know the future. I know you do.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I know what’s coming.

Oh, I know what you’re thinking. And you have every right to think that. In fact, if you weren’t thinking it, I’d be a little concerned about you.

So I hope what I’m about to tell you won’t come as too much of a shock. But then, my words won’t be the shock. It will be your sudden realization that you were wrong about me, that what you thought you knew was … incomplete. Something is going to happen. Something big. Something you might not notice at first but will soon see… I’m just saying, savor today what you have today. Things will soon change.

I don’t mean to scare you. You’ll be safe. But you won’t escape the need to make tough decisions. I guess I’m saying trust yourself. You’ve got room to make mistakes and still survive, as long as you learn from them. That starts with admitting them to yourself.

So, no matter what happens next, don’t panic. Don’t follow anyone else’s lead. Take the time you need to evaluate the situation and seek more information. Err on the side of caution. And when you take action, err on the side of compassion.

Why am I telling you this? Some strange compulsion, I suppose. Do you have any idea what it’s like to know what’s coming and not be allowed to tell anyone? No, I suppose you don’t. It eats away at you. People are just going about their lives, living in their invented worlds, not even aware that the real world is changing around them. No, I don’t mean you. I know you’re aware. You watch for news of change and consume predictions of change. But even you put too much stock in information coming from vested interests. Their “predictions” are little more than disguised sales pitches.

I, on the other hand, have the benefit of future hindsight, of having watched your tomorrow happen before. They say that knowing the future is a rare blessing, and yes, I’ve reaped benefits. But I’ll tell you, it’s also a crushing curse. It’s a burden I never thought I’d have to carry, and I don’t know if I can do it anymore.

…There’s something I should tell you. – No, I shouldn’t tell you. I really shouldn’t. The consequences could be…

But if I don’t tell you, you might…

I didn’t think this would be so hard. You know what? This was a bad idea. I gotta go.

Disregard the above.

***

What the …??

Sorry about that last post. Obviously, someone hacked my site to post it. I tried several time to delete it, but whenever I did, it reappeared. It’s almost like someone knew what I was going to do before I did it.

And did you see the headlines today? I know. Didn’t see that coming. But it’s like the hacker did. Somehow…no. I can tell you with certainty that there is no such thing as time travel, so don’t even go there. It’s just weird, that’s all. I mean, somebody claims that something is going to happen and then it does? Not sure what to make of that.

But enough of this nonsense. Let’s get back to the essence of this blog, and that is, speculating about the future. It’s a fool’s errand, I know. It suits me perfectly.

It’s not like I took it on intentionally. I’m one of those people, like you, who can’t help but wonder what’s ahead. I watch for trends, notice x and wonder how it fits with y, take disruptions and extrapolate forward from them, and most fun of all, check out what unforeseen marvels are being brought to light by researchers.

The future as we know it is pure speculation.

Here’s one prediction we can make with confidence:

The future will defy our expectations.

Got any other good predictions? I’d love to hear about them. Anything we should all know about? Any major changes coming that we’re not paying attention to? Please share.

The more we know, the more we come to see how little we know. I expect this is true in all areas of deep study. Years ago, I came across a wonderful analogy, “the sphere if knowledge,” that I think explains it best. (If you know who came up with this, please let me know so I can acknowledge the source.)

The Sphere of Knowledge.

Imagine a space in which everything you know is packed into the shape of a sphere and everything you don’t know is outside of that. As you pack more and more knowledge into it, your sphere of knowledge grows bigger and bigger. From deep within your sphere, you are surrounded by things you know. The outside edge of your sphere is where you encounter what you don’t know. When your sphere is small, you have a small circumference of ignorance, but as your sphere grows larger and larger, so grows your circumference of ignorance. The larger your circumference of ignorance, the more exposure you have with a whole universe beyond your knowledge. In other words, the more you know, the more things you discover you don’t know.

              Does this mean you should stop learning? Who wants to discover how little they know?

              Uncertainty creates discomfort in all of us, it’s true. Yet it’s this very discomfort that spurs us to learn more, to seek better answers, to grow as individuals. The alternative is to stay comfortable and hold firmly to your beliefs, ignoring all contrary evidence. Of course, beliefs that fit poorly with reality are not very useful, other than to provide comfort. So if your biggest need is for comfort, for heaven’s sake, don’t expose yourself to contrary voices.

              On the other hand, if you thirst for better understanding, seek out the discomfort of uncertainty. We’re human beings. We can’t possibly know everything. Nor should we expect ourselves to. But we can always learn.

Here’s what the world’s leading scientists have come to understand, as exemplified by Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: we can never know reality with certainty. All new information can do is give us better approximations of reality. That’s a useful goal.

Indeed, the fundamental quest of science to not to provide final answers; it’s to discover better questions, questions that might lead us to new insights, which in turn will lead to even better questions. This is the essence of the scientific process. Those who give up on science because it doesn’t provide final answers are those who simply misunderstand the process.

              Here’s the irony. On any given topic, you need to know a lot to realize how little you know. When you find yourself speaking with absolute certainty, let that give you pause to wonder what you’re missing.

              One of the things I like to do in my writing is to challenge readers to look at things from an unfamiliar perspective. Why? Because that’s how we expand our horizons.

“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

So, what do you think of this “sphere” analogy? Have you heard any other good ones? I’d love to hear what you think.

Past or future? Which draws you?

Almost everyone has a preference. 

Science fiction tends to appeal to future-oriented people, as does speculative fiction in general. Other genres tend to be dominated by stories of the past or present. There are always exceptions. Alternative history, time-travel, steampunk, and fantasy often mix time-frames in interesting ways.

Some of us are drawn to the past, some to the future. Our records of the past provide glimpses into the experiences of others, valuable if we learn from them. Our speculations about the future provide goals and warnings, valuable if we heed them.

History is always recorded from a particular perspective. The history we know is a tiny sliver of what has actually gone before, a very incomplete picture. Even our own memories are notoriously unreliable. On a personal scale, the past is as imaginary as the future.

The future is a blank slate. We may assume that current trends will continue, but based on past experience, this is unlikely. Recorded history is essentially the record of events that disrupted the expected flow. Yet we live and plan our lives as if we know what’s going to happen. The future is truly unknowable.

There is nothing we can do about the past, but we can influence the future. The future is a rich playground for imagination, which is why it attracts speculative fiction writers. We can extrapolate from what we know into plausible futures. We can create stories that encourage us to think twice about where we are going, to hopefully plot a safer and more productive course.

The future is where our hopes and fears all reside. Forewarned is forearmed. Progress requires a goal. Let’s look ahead.

When you look to the future, what do you see that doesn’t get enough attention in fiction?