A MONTH OF TRAVELLING – T

TULEVAISUUS – THE FUTURE

“Marty, the future isn’t written. It can be changed. You know that. Anyone can make their future whatever they want it to be.”

Tulevaisuuteen matkustetaan monissa tarinoissa, joskus tarkoituksella, joskus vahingossa, ja joskus tarina sijoittuu jonnekin ihmiskunnan tuleviin päiviin. Välillä tulevaisuus on parempi kuin nykyisyys, toisinaan taas täysii dystopia. Tulevaisuudessa olisi mielenkiintoista käydä, mutta se, kuinka mukavaa se olisi, riippuu a) siitä, kuinka kauas tulevaisuuteen pääsisi, ja b) siitä, kuinka kiveen hakattu tulevaisuus olisi. Jos tulevaisuus olisi kamala, eikä siihen voisi vaikuttaa, olisi juttu aika kurja. Se, kuinka paljon tulevaisuuteen taas voi vaikuttaa, riippuu ihan tarinasta. Joskus jo pieni muutos muuttaa koko tulevaisuuden, joskus taas kaikki, mitä teet, johtaa tulevaisuuteen, jota yrität välttää. Vähemmästäkin saa päänsäryn. Ehkä ihan hyvä, ettei aikamatkustusta ole vielä keksitty…

In many stories people travel into the future, sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident, and sometimes the story is set in the days yet to come. At times the future is a better time period than what we’re living now, at times it is a total dystopia. It would be interesting to visit the future but how much fun it would be would depend on a) how far into the future you’d get to go and b) how much that future would be set in stone. If the future was terrible and there’d be no way to change it, that would not be fun. How much the future can be affected, then, depends on the story. Sometimes the smallest of changes changes the entire future, yet sometimes everything you do causes the future you’re trying to avoid. I just get a headache from thinking about this. Maybe it’s for the better that time travel hasn’t been invented yet.

The quote above by Doc Brown in Back to the Future part III
Back to the Future part III directed by Robert Zemeckis

Bonus quotes!

“I never think of the future. It comes soon enough.” (Albert Einstein)

“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.” (William Gibson)

“If someone who knew the future, pointed out a child to you and told you that that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives… could you then kill that child?” (The Fourth Doctor, in Doctor Who episode Genesis of the Daleks)

“This world… this future… it’s a nightmare.” (Donatello, in the 2003 TMNT series episode Same as it Newer Was)

“I prefer to look on the future as something which is not written in stone. A lot of things can happen in 25 years.” (Jean-Luc Picard, in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode All Good Things)

“I don’t think time travel will ever be possible. If it were, we would have been overrun by tourists from the future by now.” (Stephen Hawking)

”Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.” (Yoda, in ”The Empire Strikes Back)

”Tulevaisuus shmulevaisuus.” (Helsingin Sanomien Nyt-liite joskus teinivuosinani)