The future is always a mystery. Human beings are actively involved with unmasking both mysteries of the past and future because it seems we are only certain about the present. This has led to many different views concerning the destiny and probably the position of human beings on this planet since man’s destiny is his future and his future is his destiny. It is evident in this century that man has improved so much in the field of knowledge to the extent that what was considered as myths two centuries ago are actually real during our times. Take for instance the possibility of going to the moon or exploring the space.
We can predict the weather, cover a distance of a thousand miles in less than a day, share a joke with someone more than two thousand miles away, and what more, grow a baby in a test tube! With all these possibilities, what will the future be like because it seems man has achieved so much within a very short period? There are inexhaustible possibilities of what the future might look like. Man is struggling to sustain the current population by ensuring that every individual human being lives a good life. The question however is, will the world be too small to accommodate all of us?
Could this be the reason why scientists are relentlessly seeking the possibility of life outside our planet? If they succeed, then I would say with certainty that in the future, some people will relocate to the newly found planet. If they do not succeed and the population continues to grow then we are faced with a disastrous future. Resources will be depleted and this will mean that there will be a shortage. This might result into war or massive deaths by starvation. The assumption here is that the climatic conditions will be stable. However, with the threat of global warming, there could not be any future at all for the human race.
Earth could as well join other dead planets like Mars and Venus because there is scientific evidence that human activities are destroying the planet. The same technology that we invented for the sole purpose of making our life in this planet better could pose a major threat for our own survival. There is a possibility of the future being dominated by robots or even cloned individuals. There is also the possibility of humans being more intelligent to the point that they become super humans but before we consider these possibilities, it is imperative that we look at the present situation because the future is so much dependent on the present.
Presently, life is dominated by science and religion even though religion has persisted throughout the history of man. Quite a number of people believe that there exists a supernatural being who created everything that there is. If this is true then it means that the future of man is in this supernatural being. According to religious teachings the future lies in constantly doing good and evading evil. Evil is punished by death. However, supposing that all the evil people die and the righteous live, how will their condition be like?
It is a question that even the Pope cannot answer articulately and precisely. It therefore follows that anything else is open to human investigation except the future and no man alive can predict precisely how things will be in the future. Even the past that we claim to have experienced is only a recollection and articulation of imaginative pictures. Man cannot perceive the future except as a collection of imagination. Even the present is always a second away and may be the concept of time and space is not actually real.
Source Author (2008). Philosophical Thoughts on the Future. July 17, 2008