A Shift in Mindset

This class has brought so many possibilities and options to consider for the future, that I find myself overwhelmed with thoughts of what these possibilities may imply. My faith brings me hope for the future, my humanity brings me fear of what may come to be, and my curiosity brings me courage and wonder for the unknown. One thing I do believe is no matter what the future brings, be it a utopian paradise or a dystopian hell on earth we have the power of choice. The future is created by the decisions we now make; whether it is long term or short term future we have the power to change it.

In class we discussed how the American society seems to be motivated by the more apocalyptic stories of the future. Professor White made the suggestion that maybe our society should begin to learn from other kinds of stories. I personally agree with this contention. The American society seems to be motivated primarily by individual needs and desires. Maybe we could all benefit from a shift in our mindset. Community is an important human need and has been since the beginning of time. We are social animals but we act in selfish ways. This is a main theme that we see through out stories that we have read this semester. Bryan Hyde says this nicely in his 2005 final. “This is one of the main focuses of any good literature, and literature written about the future is no exception because, when all of the technology and complex terminology is stripped away, the reader is left with the human condition in the future, laid bare and found to be just as vulnerable and isolated as it has ever been.”

One of the interesting concepts that this class made me think about was the concept of the past and the impact it has on the community. No matter what kind of future we are looking towards the past will always be there to either remind us of better times or warn us of past mistakes. In Chocco the people looked to the past to see how technology brought the “machine people” to their demise. In Contrast to that, the grandmother in Drapes finds herself missing the way things used to be, finding her only comfort from her memories. In some of the stories the past is something that the people are trying to run away from but find that they can’t. This was the case in Newton’s Sleep. They were trying to leave the disaster of earth behind, but found that there was too deep a connection to cut away from.

One of the things that I noticed, was that it seemed that the more high tech the stories, the more individualistic they seemed. In both Cyberfiddle and Johnny Mnemonic the characters were loners. They both also longed to find their humanity. In Cyberfiddle, Pryer tries to connect with humanity through music when he makes and plays a fiddle. Johnny tries to reach a level of humanity by being able to retain his own memories. I found myself empathizing with the dad in The Onion and I, the way he missed the small details in life. I find it interesting that with technology we can get to know people who live on the other side of the world, while at the same time we don’t know the people who live right next store. This also seems like one of the most likely possibilities of our future, and for me one of the more scary, cold, and impersonal possibilities.

In contrast to this view is the view where the community is at the center of civilization. In both Chocco and House of Bones they lived in this way. In Chocco they found that technology was the downfall of our society. This idea that we will be the cause of our own downfall is very common. In Chocco the society went back to living almost completely off of the earth and made all decisions based off of what was best for the whole of the community. In House of Bones they also live off of the earth and must do everything in the interest of the community. The narrator in this story is a time traveler who must completely change the way he is used to living his life, in doing this he finds that what truly makes us human is the ability to show mercy to one another, and begins to feel completely comfortable in his new world. I think this is an important concept, so many people are afraid of change but if we gave change a chance we would become comfortable with it.

It is this concept of change and open mindedness that this course has brought to me. I must admit that this course has been some what uncomfortable for me. It forced me to think about things that I don’t enjoy. This class has forced me out of my comfort zone and made me consider even other people’s point of view. This has broadened my vision of the future and given hope that the future is not set in stone. It is because of this view that I believe the future is being written. I do, however, believe that people will find what they are looking for. For example, you hear people talk about how we must be living in Revelation’s “end times” I believe these people say this because this is what their mind is looking for.

One of the main things that this class made me realize was that the future has so many possible outcomes. Before this class I had my mind made up that Armageddon was what the future held for mankind. Now I am happy to say I don’t know what might happen. The reason I say I am happy is because not knowing what will happen makes it a little more exciting. Any thing can happen, the possibilities are endless. The one thing I do know is that I can control my personal future through the choices that I make, and since I am going to be a teacher I might be lucky enough to affect the future after I pass away through the lives of my students, as well as through my own children.

In conclusion, this class has brought me a shift in my mindset. It has shown me just how individualistic we are as a society. I don’t know if this will be our downfall or not, but I do believe it is something worth some more thought. As I said previously I can choose what my future holds and this class has given me a little more to consider when I think about some of those decisions.