Musings about tomorrow, a world without people, and the future of books. What does not exist yet?
What does not exist yet? A world without people. No human beings on earth. Admittingly, some areas do come close, but overall I can’t say that the earth lacks population. Moreover, some would argue that we have too many. Humans that is. Too many humans.
If we continue to think about what we lack, we might end up with stagnancy. The world is always changing. Getting better and getting worse at the same time. No one can argue convincingly that today is a copy of the same day one year ago, let alone ten years ago. If we compare today to a random day a few thousand years ago, one could argue that one of the only stable factors is the fact that humans existed.
Something else that does not exist yet is “[insert any word] of the future”. An object that has not been invented yet, a thought that no one has thought yet, or that which I can not even express with words. Tomorrow does not exist yet. It is something we make – we’re working on it as we speak, today – but it is not present in the now.
Have you ever considered that even though time is passing by gradually, the switch from today to tomorrow still feels like a hard shift? As clear as the distinction between tomorrow and today, today and yesterday, is the distinction between de now and the future: the world that does not exist yet.
In the books of the future, we will read about all times, both existing and non-existing. Yet, what are these ‘books’ that I am talking about? What do they look like thirty years from now? Assuming that that which we call a book is even slightly linked to the object it inherited its name from. A clay tablet became an electronic tablet, a paper scroll became a magical incantation (just joking, a folding phone), so perhaps a book will become something more than an ebook.
The book of the future could be a collection of thoughts that you can temporarily explore with your mind’s eye. A story that only exists in your head. Someone else wrote it, so it originated elsewhere, but by adding your perspective and vision you take ownership of the story happening in front of you. There are many copies of this book, not one of them being the same. This book contains no original thoughts, only shared experiences that increase in intensity as everyone adds a little personality to the story.
Not all of the things that don’t exist yet will come into existence, not at the same time at least. Unless someone accepts the challenge of creating a specific future in which humans no longer exist on earth.
