It is a natural human desire to try to peep into the future and glimpse the shape of things to come. One needn’t be an astrologer or prophet in order to know broadly how life will be like in the twenty – second century. The future will grow out of the present, just as the present has grown out of the past. In fact the future already exists in embryo form in the present, and by noting the dominant tendencies in the present, it is possible to visualise the future in which these tendencies will have strengthened themselves.
The most dominant trend in our century is the use of machines in every sphere of life. Science and technology are developing so rapidly that by the end of the twenty – first century life will have been totally mechanised. Let us try to describe the life that is likely to be led by men in the twenty – second century.
Much of the world’s work, physical as well as mental, is done by complicated machines. Schools and teachers are a thing of the past. Children are educated at home by means of television and computers. Computers, in fact, play a central role in the life of man, collecting facts, thinking and taking decision; on his behalf. There will be few occasions when men have to stir out of their houses.
They will get most of the things they want, sitting in their houses. Housewives can contact local super – markets on a sort of telephone which also enables them to see the things available there, and instantaneously get what they need by conveyor belts. One needn’t take the trouble of travelling to meet one’s friends and relations. Thanks to a complicated mechanical device, by just pressing a button a person can see, on a screen in his room, the image of anybody in any part of the world he wishes to meet, and communicate with him.
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Life in the twenty-second century is highly artificial and mechanical. It offers little scope for personal contacts and the growth of human relations. Despite the progress of medicine, man is physically weak because of lack of exercise and inadequate use of many of his organs. Though he has plenty of leisure – he needn’t work more than four hours a day – he hardly knows how to use it and is bored. With no opportunity to express his personality, he feels like is a cog in a colossal machine. In short, the twenty- second century man is comfortable but unhappy.