Looking Toward the Future

On July 17, 1955, when Disneyland opened in California, one of the original ‘lands’ was Tomorrowland, with Rocket to the Moon and The Nautilus.  Our 1950s view of the future showed the possibilities we were sure could be achieved in the next couple of decades.  On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy challenged America before a joint session of Congress.  “…I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. “  It was important, and difficult, but “no single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space.” When The Jetsons first aired in September of 1962, we envisioned robots helping with everyday tasks and travel by flying cars and jetpacks.  Star Trek premiered in 1966 and showed a future that was not only full of technological innovations but social ones as well. 

While these visions didn’t entirely come to pass, many of the dreams and imaginations of the 1950s and 1960s found their way into our everyday life in the 21^st century.  In addition to reaching the moon, we reached Mars in 1975, with Viking sending back the first images from another planet.  Spin offs of NASA technology were adapted for treatment of medical ailments, for breathing apparatus for firefighters, and for protective coatings on The Statue of Liberty and The Golden Gate Bridge.  The flip phone was inspired by the Star Trek communicator. 

But do we still look toward the future today?  Individually we plan for the future, we dream about what we may be or where we may go.  But on a societal level, do we dream big?  Do we dream about those things that can only be done over a long span of time not by an individual person but by a nation?

It seems as if we are consumed by concerns of the present. We worry about jobs and health care and our financial well being; whether GMOs are safe and what’s in the dog food we give our pets.  These are all good issues, but do we have the desire to look toward the future, and dream and imagine?  We ‘see’ a dystopian future from The Hunger Games or Divergent.  But what about a positive future, one we might actually want to live in?  What we imagine the future to be like, what we dream might happen is a first step toward making that future a reality.  Are our best dreams behind us?  Or do we still dream of a bright, shining Tomorrowland? 

What dreams do you have?  What advances do you see in the world of the future?  Whether your vision is of flying cars or virtual realities, human-like robots or a peaceful world community, share your dreams, share your vision.  For your dreams may be brought to reality by somebody else who didn’t even know they, too, had that same dream.