Project Vision 21

In a recent survey (February 2021), the Kaspersky company asked about 7,000 people around the world what were the main questions those people had about the future. In other words, the survey sought to determine what the general public around the planet really wants to know about the future. And the answer was clear: cars and food.

When analyzing what the survey participants said, Kaspersky found that the most common question about the future was "What will the cars of the future look like?" In some cases, that question was asked in a specific context, such as "How long until the flying cars arrive?" or "Will we be able to use a 3D printer to print a car?"

The second place was taken by the question about food and meals. That question was commonly phrased as "Will there be healthy food in the future?" There was also interest in the quality of future pet food and the possibility that food may eventually be produced by means of a replicator, as in Star Trek. 

The third place in topics of interest about the future was occupied by health, something that is almost obvious due to the pandemic, although one wonders if, for that very reason, it should not have been the main topic of interest, above cars and meals.

Be that as it may, other topics, such as artificial intelligence, space travel, extraterrestrial civilizations, or parallel universes, were not among the most worrying topics. Not even climate change or the continuity of the human species were among the most frequently asked questions about the future.

It is clear, then, that for most people the future equates to have a good car and a good meal. Therefore, any other issue, such as possible human immortality (be it biological, digital or hybrid), is not a priority. Neither is the possible extinction of humanity.

The future thus becomes hedonistic ("I just want to satisfy my pleasures"), narcissistic ("My only concern is myself") and short-term ("Whatever I want, I want it right now"). In other words, the future is seen as an extension of childhood in which we are only interested in what we are going to eat and how big our new toy is going to be.

But that, obviously (or it should be obvious), is not future because the attitude just described does not include an expansion of consciousness towards others, towards nature or the universe, and much less towards transcendence (in whichever way you understand it). In other words, the perpetuation of immaturity is incompatible with the true future.

It is perfectly understood that we must be concerned with meeting our basic needs, such as food and transportation. We need our daily bread today and tomorrow and cars are already more of a tool for work than a luxury item to travel. That is very well understood.

What is unacceptable, if we want to build a future for ourselves and our descendants, is allowing cars and food to limit our future thinking.