Science Fiction and the Philosophy of the Future

Science Fiction speculates on future possibilities, future inventions, alien beings with different mind sets and a world yet to be. But what about the future of philosophy in the science fiction world of tomorrow when we have technologies that dwarf the world of today, when we meet those hypothetical aliens from other worlds - Can we still use the same philosophical paradigms of today or will we need to expand philosophical comprehension; Will we need new categories? Will classical philosophy still have meaning a thousand years from now in a super advanced technological world where aliens from other worlds will be with us? - Do we need some new philosophical concepts? And is the science fiction of today sufficiently imaginative to show us what the future may actually be?

Well the future is restricted by human vision and dreams.

People dont accidentally invent complicated machines, machines come from other machines/tools and possibility's driven by their human creators.


What will the future be tomorrow? we can't know till somones dreams it up and makes it real. I think the main advances are going to be biological rather than technical. We have pushed tech pretty damned far already, flying cars and such will be quite some time away, but smart talking dogs strangely far closer.

Id say a talking cat but it would only need to know one word, and thats 'no'. Not as impressive.

a reply to: AlienView

The philosophy of the future...

I think the way that philosophy evolves over the period between now, and some unspecified point in the future, will have an awful lot to do with how the human race arrives in the future, what happens between the factual now, and the notional then.

Maybe war of a scale beyond our current comprehension, will spawn an overwhelming desire for peace. Perhaps massive efforts toward peace, will present the circumstances necessary to cause even greater conflict. Perhaps greed will spawn charity, or generosity will lead to more greed, and vast lack of empathy may one day lead to contrasting increases in the level of compassion shown by mankind toward its members, or perhaps things will slide the other way.

There are so many things playing into the possible outcomes for philosophy, that it is nearly ludicrous to think in such terms, before arriving at destination future.

I say nearly ludicrous, because as impossible as it is to say with any confidence, how our philosophical structures will look in say, a thousand years, it is reasonable to state the things we would hope for.

I would hope that traveling to the other solid bodies in our solar system, colonising them, and turning our attention outward further still, will give the peoples of the future human race a number of advantages over today's humans. I would hope that the expansion to other worlds will spread us out, so that we value connection with others more, and seek always to positively interact with one another, and minimise frictions between individuals and demographics alike.

I would hope also, that the natural human need for exploration, will override its territorial nature, and allow mankind to unite in the purpose of leaving our solar system and investigating first hand, the wonderful objects we see in our night sky. Further to that, I would hope that pioneering our way to colonising the solar system, and reaching beyond, will use up the energy that human beings tend to use in this era, to kill one another.

Another thing I am hoping for, is that mankind steps out of the solar system with an observer mentality, rather than with the crusader mentality.

However, there is a long way to go between now and then, and things at the moment look decidedly dicey. In essence, philosophy is shaped by events, as much as events are shaped by philosophy, and getting a good read on how the dice fall with regard to which of these will sculpt the other more is a pipe dream and little else, because none among us know enough about what might happen tomorrow, let alone in one thousand years.

There is a problem in this sort of thinking; due to the fact most of what we have now is built upon stories and ideas from long ago. Most have a mess already in their heads, ideas and facts which some do hold true yet never went about Questioning anything.

Most of your childhood is based upon stories that do not exist. Even History told today has so many holes, Ideas come and go yet most build they Lives from them. Later when something does happen to come around and send your mind into WTF mode, you start to question whats really in your mind.

Most of everything is either outdated or so set in stone most do not dare question whats inside the Box! Your mind has many Boxes so it can relate, compare and even Choose to see. Its all in the lie about planning, and how one should plan for the future. People are so caught up Planning Ahead, fail in missing whats going on right now.

Watched a show called When aliens attack, We have a Plan! Based using Food as an issue since everything else is more likely to be had anywhere in space. Funny though, if one could travel the stars. Would you not need to bring food for the trip?

Sorry, stepped off topic a bit. If anything would happen, we would be the last to know and left with the aftermath later. Then lang would seem to be the key problem. Here on Earth we have many issues dealing with each other, race, relig, just to name a few. Next would be which Country; heard UN would have the final say for all.

Science Fiction is nice, yet just an idea of many possible ways it might be. We could have hit it on the nail or so far off, worth the wait and see vs. creating something out of nothing. Funny part is, They know more about us then we do them! Our planet is like a 24/7 Beaming Live to all who Listen to our radio, tv's and cell phones! Plus a probe or 2 with all the info one needs!

Plus even if they were Friendly, Kind loving Beings. One would have to wonder if considering what were doing to this Planet, might just have to go about Spanking Us!

Peace

a reply to: AlienView

I think that every new leap in technology gives philosophers new metaphors to frame the same old questions.

Great science-fiction predicts future tech and societies whereas the rest plunders current ideas and tech.

Iain M. Banks' ideas of post-scarcity civilizations where great futurism. Desolation Road was also philosophical but can't remember the author.

a reply to: AlienView

Imagine the world of Ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago versus today. We still read Plato and Aristotle; still find meaning in these works because they still ask questions that are relevant to humanity regardless of technological innovations. The questions such as what does it mean to be human, how does one be ethical, what is a good life, how do I really have knowledge of something, will always be relevant. Technology will further the questioning, change the specifics of the debate, and add new dimensions to the search, but the search will always be there.