Do you ever feel sad that we live in a time and age steeped in superstition?

Question

1000 years from now, when man has explored the edges of our galaxy, discovered life on other planets, has the ability to regenerate and mutate human body parts at will, and people are able to communicate with others around the world by thought. They won't be anywhere near as irrational as the majority of us are today.

Does it seem fair to you that people of the future will have a perspective of the world that is completely different from ours? One in which superstition is killed by the knowledge base that we are building today?

Does it seem fair to you, that we are living in the relative dark ages and our descendents will think on our time as if we were all delusional people that spoke to ourselves in the belief that we were speaking to something that evidently is not there? Is it fair that not only will we be considered primative, but blindly superstitious as well?

Answer 1

I don't really feel sad, there's a scientific explanation for the irrational belief system for the majority of earth's population. You can thank our primitive barbarian ancestors for starting this distorted worldview. Now its hard wired into our primitive limbic systems. The cerebral cortex, the rational and logical part of our brains is only a recent development...say within the last 100,000 years. It is here that atheists have found their basis in reality.

But, obsolete genes do not die overnight, so we'll be seeing the distorted worldview among the majority of the earth's population (currently at 80%) for some time to come. Just be thankful that in the important functions in society, (among them, the astronomers and scientists) there is a more grounded worldview.

Answer 2

Interesting. When you consider this in reverse, the people of 1000 years ago couldn't imagine the things we know and the things we can do. They were superstitious as hell, more than we are perhaps?

The notion of fairness is a product of humans and not nature. Nature couldn't give two hoots as to whether an individual lives in a dark age, or in the most advanced, scientific, non-superstitious age imaginable.

Of course it isn't "fair" since nothing is fair that exists in the real world. But perhaps our far off descendants won't think too very ill of us. Not ALL of us. If they will be students of history, and you can be sure they will be, they will have access to the thoughts of people like you and me, and will know that the dawning of non-superstitious thought was emerging from the wasteland wrought upon this planet by religion and other silliness.

They will naturally have a perspective that is wholly different than ours. We will never experience that age, but on the other hand, they will never experience ours, just as we will never experience the pagan times or Roman times or the Renaissance. You take the hand that life deals to you, and marvel at the opportunities you are presented with.

What a thought provoking question!

Blessings,
Lady Morgana )0(

Answer 3

Well, there is that point. Yes, people of the future could expect us to have been archaic in our thinking and close to our "caveman" counterparts, but consider this, not so long ago in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's, their understanding of the future to come (the year 2000+) was going to be fantastical in their errogance of technology advancement. Everything was automated, flying cars, every place had a moving sidewalk, instant dinner by the press of a button, and most major cities would be dome covered as well as teleportation. But in truth, how far are we from that now?
The animal instinct in us will still exist 1000 yrs from now. There will still be spirits and unexplainable occurences. There will always be the question "Where do we go when we die? Is this all there is? Why are we here?" No matter how advanced we become and how much science progresses the ultimate answers will never be explained. That is where hope comes from, because without it why would we want to progress or go forward in life? Why would you want to help someone that is dieing or is sick? Why would you want to leave the world better than when you were alive?
People may be advanced in a thousand years but in the past 100 yrs we have progressed at a phenominal rate and still there are believers of a deity that gives them hope that there is more to life than waking, working, reproducing, sleeping, eating, then dieing. So, would they truly think we were similar to our ancestors or would they think that we were more connected to our existance than they will be? Many people have changed beliefs from the "norm" accepted Christian, Islam, Judaism, beliefs to Paganism - the earth based religions. Why? Maybe they are trying to look back and seeing the future as it will be if we do not change our ways and learn to work together and learn from our past. Maybe they will do the same.
Something else to ponder as well.

Answer 4

Superstition is not all bad its human instinct...Yes it is sad like for medical stuff like on Star Trek when they come down to earth and see the barbaric medical practices we have and poverty. Its not fair but was it fair to those ancestors who lived in caves??? Generations past and future and present all contributed to what we now have. We are living in the right time for us. Maybe you will be reincarnated into your future Utopian world. OH but there is the superstition part you don't like---reincarnation--- that is. How do you know this will even all come about, can you see into the future.Do you think our world is better off then 1000 years ago? People always have to deal with the same things whatever time era they happen to be born into. Its all chance or fate my friend depending on what your superstition is.

Answer 5

I think we are where we are supposed to be as individuals, not necessarily as a species though. I am grateful that I didn't live thousands of years ago when I could have been burnt at the stake for not believing in some tyrants chosen fairytale, but I also think we will start to see a glimpse of this future you speak of in our lifetime. It is certainly a pretty huge leap from where humanity is now, so (at the very least) I will be quite satisfied to see such a massive change happen, or begin to happen.

I also think there is much that the human race needs to do and change in order for us to survive to and beyond that future. Our lives now are important and the way we impact the world now will be felt for years to come.

In the end, life is only a fair as we choose for it to be.

Answer 6

I think that this will always happen. Everybody can remember one point at an old school when someone asks the question "why didn't the romans drive cars to where they wanted to go?" For the rest of time, I think that people will still make scientific discoveries and honestly believe that they have achieved the impossible. There is no point worrying about this because at judgement day, everybody will be tarnished with the same brush, there will always be more sensible people than us.

Answer 7

When ever I get sad about that I just think that I can be part of the coming out of this type of delusional thinking. I just work that much harder to make this a more enlightened place. After all there are no second chances. This is the only life you get!! Maybe someday the work we do now will pay off and our following generations will enjoy the benefits of our struggle.

Answer 8

Go back in time one thousand years, then compare it to today. Yes, there is still a lot of superstition (including religious superstition) around, but it is starting to fade out. I am frustrated that some people will not listen to reason now, but their kind are slowly starting to go away - people are getting more intelligent and more educated, so they no longer believe in things that make no sense. I am optimistic for the future, and realize that in some ways, I am ahead of my time. One thousand years from now they might look on us as primitive and superstitious by their standards, but as I don't expect to be around then I don't care what they think, and as they will be a thousand years more advanced than we are now, we WILL be "primitive and superstitious" compared to them... IF civilization continues to advance. If there is some kind of global catastrophe they might be MORE "primitive and superstitious" than we are - had you considered that?

Answer 9

Relative to the past, we live in an age of dramatic scientific advances. However, in a few brief years some of our most cherished beliefs will look childishly innocent and misguided. In her book about Jack the Ripper, Patricia Cornwell wrote of medical practices of little more than a century ago. There ignorance was overwhelming in comparison to today's knowledge, just as our ignorance will be overwhelming to future generations.

Just as superstition is still with us, it is unlikely that future generation, regardless of their technical advances, will not have superstitions to help them make sense of their unknowns.

Answer 10

Does it seem fair to you that our ignorant actions of today potentially leave no world for those to follow 1,000 years from now? Does it seem right to assume that we'll advance to exploring the depths of the galaxy, or that there's even anything there worth having? Yes, let's just forget the upkeep on this world now by hanging onto delusional thoughts that we'll inevitably succeed as a species.....