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2. PRECIPICE
Flash Forward
Exploring Possible Futures and Avoiding Predictions
Men have always been driven by the allure of new possibilities and distant horizons. Flash Forward aims to explore potential futures rather than predicting them. It encourages us to envision these futures, whether to embrace or avoid them. The show celebrates innovations like telephone, electricity, automobiles, and aircraft that enhance our lives. It also emphasizes the significance of discovering new destinations and means of getting there. The avoidance of predictions is due to a dislike of being proven wrong. Reflecting on past predictions, such as the end of stairs in a 1905 book, can be both entertaining and enlightening.
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Speaker 2
In a restless search for new opportunities and new ways of living, the mystery and the promise of distant horizons always have called
Speaker 1
men forward. One of the big things that I say about Flash Forward when I talk about the show is that I am really not trying to predict the future. The point isn't to say that aliens will come to Earth, or that an evil billionaire will put up so many wind turbines that it changes the climate, or that we totally will replace athletes with robots. The point is to try and think about what those futures might entail, so we can figure out how to move towards them, or away from them.
Speaker 2
New things to do, and new ways to do them. Telephone, electric lights, automobiles, aircraft, all are symbols of better living. New places to go, and new means of getting there.
Speaker 1
Part of the reason I avoid trying to make predictions is because I don't like being wrong. It's easy and often quite fun to look at past predictions about the future. My personal favorite comes from a book called A Hundred Years Hence, The Expectations of an Optimist, written in 1905, where the author predicted all kinds of things, including the end of stairs.
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