Future Stories: What’s Next?

How does one foretell the future, this is the conundrum that David Christian, Professor Emeritus at Macquarie University in Sidney Australia, tackles in his inimitable conversational writing mode while analyzing this complex topic. Patterns drawn from past history often serve as the framework on which to build further expectations. Various philosophers, scientists, historians, and other noted figures have their thoughts and studies included in this exploration of how the future might be envisioned. Through an evolutionary tour starting from the microbes and continuing to plants and animals, the adaptations taken for survival from the molecular level to the neuronal chemical adaptations are explored. On the human level, the author scrutinizes the thinking of primitive societies, then continues onto the changes adopted during the agricultural age, following onto the industrial period, and then continues to analyze the current outlook during this Anthropocene era where humans impact the planet’s ecosystem and trigger climate change. In this rapidly changing world, futuristic thoughts and concerns are further considered as they range out to the astronomic and even more expansive cosmological spheres. There is much to think about in this intriguing adventure through these stories that attempt to see the future.