Reading “Future History”
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Future History roughly narrates a young Israeli writer’s reflections on the future, also containing philosophical extensions about the essence of certain things.
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The Direction of Human Development
What do humans want? TV shows and books often depict people as constantly hoping to perpetuate their spirit, and the fulfilled and open-minded no longer care about the length of life. Is that really the case? In just two hundred years, humanity has already defeated most known bacteria and viruses, greatly extending life expectancy. (Now I can hardly imagine suffering from disease or the pain of losing loved ones, as if gaining the whole world only to lose it again; I wonder how ancient people endured such sorrow.) Modern humans’ lifespan has doubled compared to 200 years ago, and we continue to strive in this direction. Humanity pursues immortality—not only an eternal lifespan but also a healthy body and a happier life.
What Is Happiness
The pursuit of physiological pleasure has never had a limit; happiness is fleeting. Does the pursuit of happiness have meaning? Scholars emphasize the significance of the process, but come on, that’s not scientific. From an evolutionary perspective,
if one truly wants to experience pleasure for a long time, we must alter human biochemistry and remake our bodies and minds. We are already working on this. We can debate whether this is good or bad, but it seems that the second biggest issue of the 21st century—ensuring global happiness— involves remaking Homo sapiens so that people can enjoy perpetual joy.
Do Humans Have Souls
To make humanity’s privileges appear self-evident, to excuse the various cruelties we inflict on animals, humans are endowed with additional meaning. One of these is the notion of a soul, which is clearly something that cannot be proven nor easily falsified. Yet many people refuse to accept “humans, like mice, have no soul.” Why can’t people accept this? Because many religions’ foundations, or one of their core theories, claim that humans have souls. The collapse of that foundation threatens religious rule, so in the early stages of modern scientific development, many brave scientists were persecuted by religion in various forms. Do scientists care about “whether humans have souls”? No, modern scientists do not; those who do care about this question may not truly care about the question itself.
The Difference Between Humans and Animals
Modern genetic research has shown that we are closely related to many species on Earth; we evolved from the same ancestors. Some chose to walk on land, some stayed in the sea, some left the forest, some began to migrate… Our evolutionary speed far exceeds that of other contemporary species; it is a triumph of evolution. Essentially, there is no fundamental difference between humans and animals.