Simone Rotella The 20th century was a famously fertile time for visions of the future, but the 21st century has failed to inspire them in the same way. Science fiction writer William Gibson, author of the prescient cyberpunk novel Neuromancer , has called this future fatigue, pointing out that we barely ever make reference to the 22nd century.
One reason for this apparent stasis is that most of the ideas of the future that captured peoples imaginations in the 20th century have mutated since then. For example, plastic was billed as the material of the future.
It has become an abundant material resource that is durable and versatile, just as its manufacturers promised. But as it turns out, these properties have made our use of plastic a major problem, for the environment and for our health.
The dominant images of the future that we are presented with at the moment all have long histories to them. They include space colonisation, dystopian artificial intelligence and a longing to bring back the past but a past that never was.
*Reporting by Newscientist.*
