Future History and Fear of the Transhuman

The future’s cynical take on the present

Image by Mikhail Nilov, from Pexels

Unlike almost all of us as individuals, our society will be remembered for centuries because future historians will study the themes that crop up in our culture to understand the origin of their society that lies in our future. So how will we come across collectively when we’re studied with the same detachment that scientists can’t help but employ when investigating something as alien as the behaviour of rats or birds?

We might characterize our culture as “postindustrial” or “developed,” “individualistic” or “free,” but precisely because we who feel at home in our globalizing, capitalistic ethos would prefer those characterizations, we can expect they’ll have little if any part in the future assessment.

The Cynicism of Future History

To get a sense of the impression we’ll make, we need only reflect on how contemporary historians tend to regard ancient civilizations. One of the hallmarks of history is that “at the length truth will out,” to quote “The Merchant of Venice.” The cynical or realistic interpretation of a society’s values, institutions, and major accomplishments and failures is easily accommodated by the future historian. But most citizens of any society can’t entertain that outsider’s perspective…