Re-igniting the Future

• The theme for this section is Re-igniting the future

Introductory Questions

• "Slice of life" research involves comparing everyday life in 1825 and 1925 to today
• Students should consider what 2045 will be like, focusing on what is easy and hard to predict
• Discussions should explore the meanings of something "re-igniting" and the differences between "burning up," "burning down," and "burning with"
• Participants should consider causes they are passionate about and what it would take to re-ignite their feelings towards something
• The future was once viewed optimistically, with endless social and technological progress expected
• The future can be viewed with pessimism
• Small things, like musical bands and TV shows, can be revived with new vitality
• Individuals can be "recalled to life" after difficult experiences, with support from others being crucial

The Best is Yet to Be, or Not To Be?

• Governments have a pattern of overpromising and underdelivering on projects
• A shift from mega projects to slow, incremental ones is occurring in developed countries
• Loneliness is a pressing global health threat
• Some countries, like Japan, are using technology to combat loneliness
• Living conditions have declined in 90% of the world's countries
• Podcasts became very popular during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The Internet has driven a surge in one-sided “parasocial” relationships
• Oversaturation of negative news can lead to constant stress and a skewed worldview
• One must consider limiting the amount of information we consume to protect people’s mental health

In Futurity, Someone Prophetic Sees

• People want to know their future in advance
• Poets have also attempted to predict the future
• Divination is an ancient practice as old as Neolithic humans
• There are various future-telling occupations, like palmistry and fortune telling
• Governments may need to regulate the fortune telling industry
• Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist who predicts the future in his books
• Artists create artworks about those making future predictions
• Divination is experiencing a resurgence amongst young people
• The Barnum effect, Pygmalion effect, cold reading, confirmation bias, and self-fulfilling prophecy can make divination seem more reliable
• A debate exists between free will and determinism
• Some methods of foretelling the future stem from long-term observations, like the Chinese agricultural calendar
• Meteorologists make weather forecasts, but they are not always accurate
• Small changes can have large impacts, as explored in chaos theory
• Public discourse includes popular "cycles," but their accuracy varies

The Future Wasn’t Meant to Be

• Futuristic technologies like rocket mail and flying cars failed to be widely adopted
• The 1990s were an optimistic time
• The New Age movement focused on love, harmony, and personal transformation - Its messages may still resonate today

If At First You Fall, Try, Try Again

• In the 16th century, Filofei proposed that Russia could be the third Rome
• There have been attempts to revive great empires
• Destroyed buildings can have second leases on life through reconstruction
• In Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, librarians are entrusted to restart a great civilization
• A dead airline, Pan Am, is being revived as a luxury charter service and clothing brand
• Vintage technologies like floppy discs and audio cassettes are experiencing a resurgence
• Artistic and musical works can be brought back, and sometimes too successfully

Things Really Do Catch Fire

• A fire involves oxidization, ignition, combustion, flash point, and convection, and requires the fire triangle or tetrahedron
• The history of fire includes its discovery/invention and how this history is revised
• Methods to start fires include using stones, flint, ants, and lenses
• Greek fire was a deadly weapon in Byzantine Greece, with modern equivalents like napalm and thermite
• Early humans may have used fire for cooking and creating animation
• Fireworks, believed to have originated in China, remain popular but can be dangerous
• Music can be explosive and depict fireworks
• Early civilizations had people assigned to keep fires alive
• Fire is treated literally and metaphorically in art and literature

Speeches that Inspire, Speeches that Spit Fire

• JFK's "peace speech" at American University is an example of a passionate speech about peace
• Political speeches are sometimes viewed as works of fiction, but fictional politicians can also give effective speeches
• Leaders travel abroad to deliver speeches
• Technology impacts the effectiveness and reach of speeches and news
• Historically significant examples include fireside chats, Churchill's wartime broadcasts, and the Kennedy vs. Nixon debate

Reliving It Up

• Death is a complex process, sometimes reversible
• Tensei stories offer an alternative portal to fantastical worlds through death and reincarnation
• Scientific research, spurred by billionaires, promises ways to extend lives
• The manga series Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End explores immortality and its consequences
• Synthetic biology is an emerging field with potential benefits
• Repositories of biological samples, like the UK’s National Collection of Type Cultures, are valuable
• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserves seeds to guard against extinction

Entertaining Ourselves Back to Life

• The idea of a prophesied king reappearing is common in literary history
• Figures like Napoleon Bonaparte have attempted comebacks after exile
• A creator’s death can make their creations more interesting
• Artists re-record and revise their own past works
• AI is being used to create digital clones of artists and complete unfinished works
• Creators are communicating openly with the public while developing new works

Much Excite, Much Ignite

• Cars are powered on by internal combustion engines
• Electric cars were popular in the early 20th century but disappeared before returning
• The sun will eventually run dry, and some are contemplating how it could be revived
• Volcanoes explode, and dormant volcanoes can reawaken
• Wars can reignite, and it takes effort to "put out" a war permanently

The Generative Area: A Mind for Imagination

• Pareidolia is the human brain's ability to find patterns and images where none exist
• Salons are gatherings where creative and intellectual spirits meet
• Neurobiology of imagination involves memory, mental imagery, perception, and worldview
• Drugs can stimulate the imagination
• Mainstream treatments and techniques to become more imaginative include active imagination and meditation
• Writing with constraints can stimulate creativity
• Imagination is celebrated in popular culture

No Backup, But Restore

• Creative works that fail initially can be reworked later
• Musical shortcuts can set a time and place for science fiction
• Video game music is a legitimate form of art
• Rhythm games can help people rebuild their motor and mental skills

Punky Futures

• Futurism imagines a world of speed, danger, and beauty
• Afrofuturism imagines liberation and empowerment for different communities
• Solarpunk offers an optimistic vision of technology and nature in harmony
• Atompunk imagines a world where the "Atomic Age" continued to flourish

Concluding Questions

• The future can be built from bits of the past or from entirely new materials
• One can consider the themes of beginnings, endings, and starting over in their own life
• One can imagine reuniting with their team in 20 years, creating images of what they will be like in the future