“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
―Philip Freneau
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Looking Back on Forward Thinking
Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.
E. M. Forster, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Margaret Atwood were able to foresee the future with chilling clarity and precision each in his or her remarkable powers of perception and vivid imagination.
Jules Verne, also, was no slouch in this regard, though his fertile fantasies were confined more to powerful inventions with seemingly magical powers than with their social, moral and spiritual ramifications.
Charlie Chaplin with Modern Times, and Fritz Lang with Die Stadt made important contributions along these lines as well.
By the way Dubai looks to me a great deal like the fantastic Futuristic Cities dreamt up by the creator and illustrator of Buck Rogers if you can remember back that far.
Yes and no.
ReplyDeleteE. M. Forster, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Margaret Atwood were able to foresee the future with chilling clarity and precision each in his or her remarkable powers of perception and vivid imagination.
Jules Verne, also, was no slouch in this regard, though his fertile fantasies were confined more to powerful inventions with seemingly magical powers than with their social, moral and spiritual ramifications.
Charlie Chaplin with Modern Times, and Fritz Lang with Die Stadt made important contributions along these lines as well.
By the way Dubai looks to me a great deal like the fantastic Futuristic Cities dreamt up by the creator and illustrator of Buck Rogers if you can remember back that far.
I suspect that it may be a bit of a truism.
ReplyDeleteThe Pennsylvania Dutch probably said it best.
ReplyDeleteThe farther ahead I go, the behinder I get.
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ReplyDelete