How important is “Future” to Life?

Question

Ancient Germanic languages had no future tense, only past and present, which may indicate that they did not, in fact, have a concept of “future”.

A moment of consideration: One could say, “I learned” and “I learn”, but not “I will learn”.

There’s no “I will do”, “I should do”, “I can do”.

Yet they lived together (which I believe implies some system of morality), they created myths, they formed a society...

How important is “future”?

In response to a few of the answers:

This can be a bit difficult to comprehend, but in the mythology of that period, concept of time-flow is reversed.

We see Past changing into Future. They saw "Now" or "Non-past" being woven into Past. So "Life" was defined as the Known Past, not the Unknown Future.

…….. - Yes, it’s hard to imagine that there is “hope” without a sense of future.

Bach, Trina- Either of you could be right, but interestingly, even the later Germanic fairy tales ended not with, “They lived happily ever after” (i.e. a present view looking into the future), but with “And if they had not died they would still live today” (i.e. a present view looking into the past).

Earl of Sandwitch—Good answer! I would never violate the Prime Directive, LOL. Morality is my sticking point as well—how can there be rules of behavior without future consequence? Unless the rules are based on past instances… “You can’t do this, because last time it turned out badly.”

Operacat, Syzn- Yes, I think language changes as a society develops, just as it changes for individual development. There’s some evidence that we can only comprehend that which we can describe with language, hence the inability to recall our earliest memories.

Param- Well, actually, Germanic languages are the ancestors of English… No wonder it’s such a mixed up language! I think the concept was like weaving a blanket: by looking at the already completed portion, you can predict the rest of the blanket. After all, the ideas of radical change: winning the lottery, social climbing, are age-old stories, but only recently feasible.

Hempsted- LOL, LOL, LOL! :-) You know, those darn Germans are still dour. I lived there for a few years, and never saw a smile.*** The neighbor lady used to always tell me I was crazy; the phrase literally translates to “you have many birds in your head”. I used to reply, “They sing me pretty songs.” She never got it...
*** Half-truth

Hand Baby- FYI, thumbs down not from me, and I’m not sure how you earned them…

Why? – Really, a lovely answer. I think living in the present is an extraordinary challenge. Everything we do is analyzed by our past experience, by how it will affect our future. It’s a wonder we don’t exhaust ourselves.

Answer 1

Great observation, but I think the answer (at least in this case) is NOT as romantically sophisticated and/or hidden as one might hope for. [Though, I must admit, I still enjoy Hempsted’s made up stories! :-)]

Events in the past might, at times, even be dreadful reminders of grievous/atrocious experiences. Still one can always exercise control over the undesired byproducts of “seemingly expired time” - massaging away the “perceived evil” using selective historical/mythological interpretations, and relinquishing the guardianship of the unwanted memories to the inaccessible and/or senile corners of the collective consciousness.

The future, on the other hand, is always interlinked with inherent risk, the imminence of danger, and the dread of unmanageable uncertainty. Those ancient Germanic tribes that you are referring to did not have a linguistic means of addressing the future tense more out of cultural design and a fear-dodging worldview centered around the joys, rewards, conquests, and pleasures of the present than any mental impairment or “conceptual dysphasia”. A perfect modern day analogy would be the Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets, where you attempt to predict [or nullify] the future and tame/mitigate its intrinsic uncertainties by examining the market’s past performance using a gamut of graphical [and some followers of Fundamental Analysis might say “ad hoc”] tools and methodologies [call them the modern equivalents of the old Germanic mythology and code of conduct]. And yet, no professional Forex Day Trader, worth his/her salt, would ever assume serious risk-exposure based on [the long-term] Fundamental Analysis and financial indicators alone [if at all].
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Answer 2

I think I would argue that the importance of the "future" as it relates to your example is perhaps just a misunderstanding.

Is it possible that the language simply did not require that at the time? Either that, or what was considered the present tense could have also been used as a future tense depending on the context.

I would also think that life experience alone is enough to predict that there will more than likely be a 'tomorrow' and that the speakers of ancient Germanic languages knew that after they sleep and wake up to a new day that they will again have to hunt for food or do whatever tasks they need to be able to survive. I also assume that they, as many ancients did, have the perception of time by looking at the various changes in the skies throughout the year. Weather as well would be a clue. It would be my impression that these things would at least 'imply' a future even if it wasn't expressly spoken in that way.

Answer 3

This is a good question, and a tough one to answer as well.

What we do NOW, in the present, affects what will happen tomorrow. We make decisions that will either go one way or the other. Tomorrow and the future is somewhat important to life, it means the continuance and existence of life. Without tomorrow, there will be no more life after today. That will mean the end of days, hopes, dreams, aspirations, and motivations; That could also mean death.

It got me to think of all the things that I have done in the past. Yesterday, I was thinking of what tomorrow will bring but should we really worry of what the "future" holds for us? I have realized that what matter's most is not what the future has in store for you (future), not who you were (past), but who you are now and how you chose to live your life (present). Your future has not been decided yet, it is in your hands NOW on how you will write the next chapters of your life.

The great thing about life is that there's always tomorrow. If you make a mistake today, realize that it will soon pass and that tomorrow is another day -- a start of a new beginning. As good as it sounds, with life comes death. That means that tomorrow might not be there for you, so take not for granted anything that you do today.

Answer 4

There was an experiment many years ago in which subjects, chosen for their ability to achieve a deep hypnotic state, were divided into two groups. One group, under hypnotic induction was convinced that there was no past; the other group was convinced that there was no future. Subjects were interviewed and observed by several raters,over several hours. The group with no past took on many manic characteristics. The group with no future became depressed.

I remember reading that the ancient germanic Visigoths were considered "quite dour". * You would think they would have been a bit more jublient, having taken down Rome. How many tribes could say that!

If ancient Germanic people were depressed it might explain the invention of the Glockenspiel and the Volkswagon.

Little known fact: Heindreich von Procrastinationmueller invented and introduced the future tense to Germanic language..."I will do it later". **

Of course, the real struggle is to find a way to live in the "here and now".

* I made that up
** Ditto

Answer 5

Good question!!!!! It would be interesting to have observed the interact of these people. Even better than watching football!!!!!

To quote "The Federation" (from Star Trek) it is the PRIME DIRECTIVE. Life based on evolution whether it is physical or societal. For the society portion of evolution that is what religion is about. The future or evolution of one' presence-soul-existence to a higher form-reality.

Does no written form of future tense mean there is no inherant concept of future. The Romans had no symbol for zero yet I do believe if you took away all of a Roman Child's marbles he/she would immediately realize there was nothing left ie zero. Even the most lowly vertibrate understand some future consequence to their actions. Survival is important.

You may have anwered your own question when you talk about morality. To hold morality as important implies future---for sure.
I believe I "should" finish "now". LOL

Answer 6

The future isn't important if you are dead. And that can happen at any moment. It's the right attitude to have. Prepare for the future but don't dwell on it because it might not even happen. I've seen people stressed out over the future, ruining their present day. Why dwell over something not guaranteed? I used to dwell over the future, and for what? At the expense of today, the here and now. That's not a way to live your life.

Answer 7

well the future may not be as important as the present today however i think that ur question could be answered with a question and that question being :

would anyone like to have a bad future ???

or how about :

would u like to have a better future than what u have today ???

i think the answer is simple the future is important and thats why we have to prepare for it even when we don't know what really our future will be .

EDIT : if u see it the same way they did perhaps we could say than life exist until the present and i guess than seeing life that way may not be a bad thing ( live for the moment ) , however there is some of us which would like to have a better future and that dream of finding happiness simply because we think we haven't reach it yet or we feel sad at the moment .

i agree with the others , life is boring with nothing to look up for .

Answer 8

Distance in temporal width is required when in systems that irrigate the state of a cycle as a progression collecting scoops of estimated quantities that ensemble the determined product collectively further down. In the situation that you selected, the Germanic language did not seem to be a system that was retained in modern times. During their sedentary forages of the Germanic people into the forest or hunting grounds, they did not require a future array that would reduce the complex residue of scope required in modern times, flocking instead to the use of obscure structures that would not be a very clear in fit in today's world. The future array was surely made for the structural simplicity of a modern system.

Answer 9

Future is our motivator. Even when we all know that our life will end any time without notice, we still plan and live in the hope of a better tomorrow. Many wise people advise us to 'live in and for the present' only or 'live today like there's no tomorrow' and some such wisdom, but the fact remains that we all live like this life is never going to cease...ever. I go to the extent of planning for my next birth and have already decided who all I want to meet and who to shun...

This ancient Germanic language...did it see any future or have had died? Modified, maybe...with necessary changes in order to survive. Maybe life was too uncertain those days. Maybe death visited them on regular basis. Maybe they were superstitious about uttering a futuristic word for the fear of wrath of death God. Maybe... Maybe...Maybe...I can go on and on....(Actually I am reminded of a joke about a person who was learning English. He had learnt the word 'here' and wanted to use it. He stood at a distance from his friend and asked him to come 'here' to him. Then he shifted position and again asked his friend to come 'here'. The baffled friend asked the reason for all that shuffling. It was simply because our man hadn't yet learnt the word 'there'!!! PJ? Maybe. But I'm sure you caught the drift...)

Without any concept of 'future', life would be stagnant. You wake up, glean, cook, eat, sleep on day to day basis, thinking this to be your last day....Nah! The whole idea is so repulsive, so fatalistic, so tiresome, so...so...so unappealing that I won't dwell on it any more.....Maybe Later. I promise!

Answer 10

This is a hard concept to understand, unless they had no sense of time...however, when I was around 4 or 5 years old, I remember thinking to myself, without anybody telling me this, that a child's memory is ''developed''...I would remember only small segments of my experiences as a toddler but there were so many gaps in my memory until I was the age of 4 or 5 when I could remember more and more of my life's experiences on a daily basis. Our minds don't have the capacity to remember our experiences as babies and toddlers, but it develops as we grow older.