Disclaimer:

This is a text based on three days of contemplating, sketching and drawing on my sketchbook.

The photos/scans are cropped up on the edges and my handwriting may not be clear enough. I decided to keep the pictures because it shows my thought process for this prompt. However, this text translates, explains and goes in further detail into the ideas plastered on my sketchbook.

Also, I’m Mexican and my first language is Spanish, so if my English is a little rusty or weird in it’s syntaxis, that’s why.

1. People remain essentially the same

We tend to fantasize about the future a LOT. Historically, we have created books and concepts about what the future will bring us, from Julio Verne to Star Wars we create these fantastic worlds with giant, genius machines. In the 60’s, the space-age era people actually thought we would have flying cars and live like the Supersonics. While some predictions about the future are real, like Tesla imagining cellphones and TV, mostly the future ends up being disappointing. Why? Because we imagine all these artifacts and technical evolution will result in a complete spin on how humans live and view the world, but is this true? I don’t think so.

Yes, technology has a clear impact on humans and how we communicate but it doesn’t change us completely. I like to think it like this… If I’m a 21-year-old in the 2020’s with a smartphone and all these technological additions in my everyday life… Why do I still relate to what Socrates said? Back then, the world was different in many ways and humans too, but… How do we still have something in common? In fact, many profound things in common.

I believe people remain essentially the same. The nucleus of the human experience is still what it has always been. How different are Diogenes, a 2020 minimalist, or a punk from each other?

2060 is not really that far away. In the future, we will be the same. We will love, we will hate. We will be ignorant and we will be wise and cultured. All of these contrasts exist, not only in different people but in ourselves.

2. Is this outlook positive or negative? What does that mean for change?

This might seem as change is then not as real as we would hope, it does sound bleak and pessimistic, to think that after all these millenia, time has passed onto humans like a breeze. But this is not what I’m trying to say. Change IS real and it IS possible. I just don’t think 25 years are such a long time, neither 200 years. I also don’t believe that major shifts in our world like wars, climate change and disease will shatter our stubborn ways and somehow illuminate us on how to navigate the world. No. I don’t think COVID-19 will have that everlasting impact we all hope to have. Change doesn’t come easy, it only happens if we put work. External, big forces can mean the start of change, but it doesn’t mean anything if we as humans don’t try and change our inner worlds and our habits.

If a war were enough to end hatred and genocide, why is the world still dealing with racism, xenophobia, discrimination, among other social problems, almost 80 years after WWII?

Sure, a few years after WWII humanity came up with United Nations and a bunch of other attempts to make the world better. Some have been efficient but overall, historical memory is weak and fades with time. We can’t rely on such big historical world-scale shifts like COVID-19 or WWI and WWII to change us. Because we know one thing: History repeats itself.

3. Not a utopia, nor a dystopia

So, 2060 won’t be as we might like to imagine: a perfect world or a world reduced to ashes. What is more probable is this: we will make progress in some things and we will go reverse mode on some others. This balance will be the same as it has ever been. There might be flying cars and clean energy resources, but some basic human emotions will remain. I am sure we will still have to fight for equality, for a world fairer and a world that’s for ALL of us, despite differences.

However, this balance is not natural, this balance requires hard, hard work. If we want 2060 to be a better place, we have to still fight for what’s better for everyone.

4. The work we have to do…

• Educate ourselves on politics and choose good leaders.
• Keep rebelling against injustice.
• Don’t stop connecting with others and nurturing close relationships with love and compassion. The world can’t change if we don’t affect our immediate circle.
• Consume ethically and consciously, educated always on the origins and consequences or our consumption. This applies to food, clothes, media, entertainment, etc.
• Stay in touch with our traditions and ethnicities but also be ready to welcome change and evolution.
• Nurture good mental health. Can you imagine how much better the world could become if we all had a good relationship with our mind, body and health overall?
• E-d-u-c-at-i-o-n.
• Communicate and establish dialog with people from different backgrounds in order to strengthen empathy

Day Routine in 2060

7:00 to 8:00: Time for breakfast. Fresh produce is rare and expensive, there is no fruit, juice or eggs. Just toast and packaged food. Houses are small and not everyone affords a shower. Co-living spaces are the norm now and shared bathrooms.

9:00 to 12:00 Home office is the regular working style. Apartment complexes as co-living spaces also have offices ready for neighbors. The time it takes to transport ourselves to work are used into productive hours which reduces the working schedule, also, by now, everyone knows that productivity is not linear.

12:00 to 13:00 Shared communal diners are a thing. It promotes healthy social time, community and good mental health. Neighbors participate altogether in the process of making food for each other.

13:00 to 17:00 Food delivery for others is also normal. Didi, Uber Eats and similar shared economy apps are used by 80% of the global population. Those who exercise do so by walking in their neighborhoods, always wearing air masks for pollution but also to prevent diseases.

17:00 to 20:00 Those with a large income can afford VR experiences inside their houses. Happy hour takes place in our living room, all it takes is a subscription to a 4D type of video calling that brings the other person to your room. You can adjust the atmospherical experiences. All you need is the VR software and hardware (bar, robot bartender, glasses and immersive prothesis).

20:00 Time to chill. We have technology all over our houses, even low-income homes. If we choose to play some music, the wired walls can do so for us. Also, we can choose our home technologic system to read books to us or help us calm ourselves down.

Daydreaming about 2060

1. Legal same sex marriage.
2. Legal abortions.
3. Big economic blocks and countries have almost 100% clean energy.
4. No more over population.
5. Affordable decent health care and decent housing.
6. Race issues start to fade as everyone is mixed.
7. Committed lawmakers, politicians and justice system.
8. Climate change is receding.

“So we beat on…”

The future’s building blocks are made of what we choose to do today. There is no point in projecting ourselves in the future if we are not willing to put up the work. We need to get there by changing ourselves, the future we want just doesn’t come to us naturally. And if we stop trying, we will be stuck in our past.

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past” – Scott Fizgerald on The Great Gatsby