Writing in Tomorrow's World

 

While I was growing up in the UK, we had this TV show called Tomorrow’s World. I loved it. The theme music was a hip, airy tune designed to signify progress. The presenters had wry, earnest smiles that implied they knew something we didn’t. The half-hour program was full of inspiring articles about how great the world was going to be. The show celebrated just how advanced, how smart, sophisticated, and especially how accountable the people of the future would become.

    Pure joy to watch when you’re a wide-eyed child.

    Like many kids, I also loved reruns of Star Trek, mainly because of the vision of the future it presented. What inspired me in particular was a universe in which cash-money was no longer necessary; where friendship and shared responsibility were more important than power, war, violence, and conflict.

    Apparently Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, had many arguments with writers over the issue of conflict. In his future, most human conflict had been resolved and for the sake of plotting new stories set in the twenty-third century, his writers should assume that much conflict was unnecessary, redundant if you will. Which of course annoyed the crap out of the writers because, as we know, all good fiction is basically conflict driven.

    That’s the reason why the crew of the Enterprise is multi-racial. Back in the early 1960s this was a radical, even potentially self-defeating aspect of the show that curiously, never bothered anyone.  

    Talking of the future, we were told there was to be a Reset, either happening now or soon. Is it still happening? Has it happened without us noticing? Or does “reset” simply refer to an ongoing new process or philosophy?

    It’s funny. Way back in time, the most prevalent symbols of the future were robots and flying cars. As if these wonders were the pinnacle of our imagination, representing the promise of the golden days to come.
Well, if you’ve ever watched The Fifth Element you’ll remember what a bad idea flying cars are and robots, well, they’re here but we’re yet to be convinced…

    Elon Musk recently said the hardest part of making robots is getting them to stand up.  Imagine that. Not the thinking, understanding, or decision making but simply standing. That’s what we have to look forward to. Killer robots that keep falling over.

    I notice we keep talking about all the intellectual stuff that robots can do because of AI but nobody seems to be focusing on the potential real winners: in health management, construction, space and sea exploration, police and security, from warfare to janitorial duties, gardening, transport, logistics, generally saving our lives and freeing humans from toil, indignity, and pain.

    Bill Gates, before he grew into the archetypal James Bond villain, said that computers would come into their own when they became invisible. Not much chance of that happening soon. In fact we seem to revel in the appearance and universality of technology.

    So what does The Reset mean?

    Will anything actually change at all?

    If you are a writer, you will want to use your talent to examine issues, your own and others, and try to make conclusions based on analysis and wisdom. I know many of us write for simple entertainment but do you ever feel a sense of revelation? Sometimes just looking at things critically can reveal the true nature of the world. We need writers to revisit established truths. We have a responsibility to seek knowledge and wisdom. To see the world the way it is.  

    Writers are the changers, the leaders who show the way. That is our duty.    

    Some say not. Are we merely observers who can do nothing to help? 

    I would argue that simply by observing we are doing our duty. Observing means collating, weighing, measuring, not merely existing and accepting. We need to question, to remain unconvinced by arguments that do not sit well with us. We should be encouraged to disagree without consequence.

    I know it’s sometimes hard but we should try to see the positive in this new era of technology and globalization. We should be able to report on the changes we see and to rebel against them if necessary. The Reset needs to be about telling the truth, seeing reality and fighting for rationality and progress based on what is right and necessary for human welfare. Accountability for all, not only for the rich and powerful but for everyone. We need to hold each other to a higher standard because for the first time in history, we can and should.

    I remember once watching an episode of Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock with my kids where one of the characters couldn’t do as he was told. Assigning him work just made him angry, resentful, and eventually made him run away. In a cave where he was hiding, hating himself for not fitting in, some wise old dude told him to think of his predicament as a test. Some of us are just not meant to be drones, he said, some of us were meant to think and dream and create, to be someone who tries to change the world.

    Artists, writers, thinkers, inventors, often become the pioneers, the thought leaders, the ones we admire most and look to for purpose and meaning.

    That’s what The Reset should be for: to elevate wisdom, clarity, and creativity!

    Now that’s a Tomorrow’s World I can look forward to and be a part of.

Keep Writing!

Rob Parnell’s Writing Academy