On the flip side, Orsen Well's 1938 War of the Worlds seemed to illustrate the destructive power that science could wield.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The World of Tomorrow
People have always wondered what science can bring us, and a better future seemed to be imminent. Nothing seemed to demonstrate that to me more than my readings over the 1938 New York World Fair While one would expect a carnival filled with fantastic rides and delectable foods, I was surprised to find that one of the biggest attractions was "Futurama".
Contemplations of what the the far future (the 1960s) held were immense! Segregated streets for traffic and pedestrians, a world of free men! It seems that one of the greatest productions that the future held was a society built by and inhabited by free men. I kept on getting that sense from the "Democracity" brochure from the fair. It went into great detail of the cities of "Pleasantville" and "Millville" that held great libraries for scholars and law tax rates. It seems that the "science fiction" attitude almost seemed to lean toward a utopian future where people lived in relative ease. It spoke of a "highway" of sorts, and while we were eventually able to develop one, it did not erase the time issue. Highways gave way to traffic jams that continue to be the bane of society. With every advancement, there comes an accompanying problem that perhaps we did not consider in the first place. The attitude toward the future at that time seemed to be that technology could only advance us without any problems whatsoever. Everything would be made to make use more efficient as a society.... society saw no different!
On the flip side, Orsen Well's 1938 War of the Worlds seemed to illustrate the destructive power that science could wield.
The broadcast went into great detail of the weapons that could be used against us, such as gas that could incapacitate tons of people! While society seemed to think that science could progress us beyond our greatest dreams, it could also be our end. The technology that could have been developed from advances in science could be the same technology that could cause an all out war between worlds, and eventually destroy civilization. Thus, science seemed to be both good and evil -- it's power was broad and immense.
On the flip side, Orsen Well's 1938 War of the Worlds seemed to illustrate the destructive power that science could wield.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Your point about having separate paths for pedestrians and cars is still an issue today. Having cross traffic of people and cars is a very dangerous thing, and they are still trying to figure how to appropriately organize that.
ReplyDeleteAh ha! Silly me, I did not even realize that I could draw from the whole "destructive science" stereotype when it came to War of the Worlds. I guess when I think of science as being destructive, I look a little farther into the century (like ten years). Also, I was more concerned with society's perception of what was in outer space more so than I was looking for that paradigm. Thanks for giving me another way of looking at it.
ReplyDelete