Our Future in Our Minds

[JonA]

I was sitting around last night (bored) flicking through the TV and (you know how it goes) my mind started to wander. I thought, what does everyone really think the future will be like?

I mean it'd be nice if it was all Star Trek like but IMHO it's unlikely.
Maybe a Babylon 5 setting might not be too far from realistic future but even that seems a bit too "nice".

So my questions are:

Which future setting do you think is the most realistic?

My personal thought is Space: Above and Beyond. Basically the US in space with the same mentality as their military minds have today.

Which sci-fi universe do you think you'd most like to live in?

For me? The Nights Dawn Universe from the Peter F. Hamilton trilogy of the same name. Although I quite like the Traveller and Fading Suns RPG universes but that's because they're dark and cool rather than pleasurable places to live.

Finally, what's the coolest future setting you've ever come across?

For me. SLA Industries (RPG). Although not a place I'd like to live in but a great setting to roleplay in.

[Snake_Plissken]

I'm afraid it will be something like the Cyberpunk RPG- minus the Europeans controlling everything and plus China becoming the next superpower.

[C5]

Interesting subject. I don't know a lot of SF settings to give a reference, but I'll try to answer...

Which future setting do you think is the most realistic?

Probably something like Cyberpunk 2020 for its shape of the world and for some of the technology. The violence may be quite lower though (as for some of the most impossible technology).
Some of the Doctor Who futures are also very realistic sometimes (when the future in question is not set in 1980 and doesn't involve the monster of the week, of course).
In short : futures where mankind is as greedy and as ruthless as ever.

Which sci-fi universe do you think you'd most like to live in?

Definitely Star Trek, TNG version.
If ST is not allowed, maybe something like Dan Simmons novels, Hyperion and Endymion would be nice.

Finally, what's the coolest future setting you've ever come across?

Ok... I'll avoid mentioning Star Trek again
Kernick's novels (The Widowmaker series) were a cool setting (basically some space western). Not what I'm usually fond of BTW, but this time it worked for me.

[Ergi]

Originally posted by JonA

I mean it'd be nice if it was all Star Trek like but IMHO it's unlikely.
Maybe a Babylon 5 setting might not be too far from realistic future but even that seems a bit too "nice".

I'm an optimist and therefore think that one day, for those people left, it will be like Star Trek. It will probably take a very looong time but if you add up all the small technological and scientific improvements that are still to come until our sun goes nova I have little doubt about that.
About Babylon 5 being realistic: Until someone shows humanity a way to travel faster than light we are probably in no position to judge whether any science fiction is realistic or not. If you take away the aliens and the advances in techonology B5 is pretty much like today, those with money are lucky, the other ones aren't.

So my questions are:

Which future setting do you think is the most realistic?

My personal thought is Space: Above and Beyond. Basically the US in space with the same mentality as their military minds have today.

I love SAAB but except for the faster-than-light travel problem I am not so sure if the US will be the leading nation in the future. That's just my impression and I would be glad if someone could explain to me why the social, structural, and financial problems (I'm not only speaking about this years budget deficit, I'm also speaking about the total debts) shouldn't severly affect the US.

Back to the original question. I don't know if there is a realistic future setting, since realism seems to be boring. Otherwise we probably wouldn't be watching TV and playing roleplaying games.

Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (without cyberbrains) and Shadowrun (without magic and dragons) could come close.

Which sci-fi universe do you think you'd most like to live in?

To live in, Star Trek.

Finally, what's the coolest future setting you've ever come across?

I don't know, you may select anyone of those I have mentioned above.

[Cochrane]

The most realistic future I can think of is Orson Scot Card's Enderverse. No faster than light travel. Other realistic futures include Arthur C Clark's Space Oddysey series, but obviously 2001 would not take place in 2001. I happen to think the mass quantities of humanoids in Star Trek is realistic. Vulcans are particularly likely, but I wouldn't expect Klingons. I think the humanoid form is the most practical for intelligent life.

I would most like to live in the Star Trek universe (29th century would be best. 24th century would be good if it weren't for the Dominion War, but of the main settings for series I'd say the 23rd century. If I lived in the Trek universe, I'd want a nice quiet life on Earth). The Space Oddysey universe would be good too. Asimov's robots and empire universe might be good. Basically the things that I want in the future are peace, scientific discoveries, and technology.

Star Trek is the coolest future setting. I like the technology and the scientific discoveries, such as some of the alien life forms, like Vulcans and Trill.

[redwood973]

What future?

[qerlin]

Originally posted by JonA
So my questions are:

Which future setting do you think is the most realistic?

The more I think about it, I'm tending toward something similar to Transhuman Space : a post-Singualrity world with rampant genetic engineering for people, machine intelligence. Ultimately, I think we'd see mankind either slowly replaced by machine intelligence, or mankind coddled and protected by machines that run things for us (ala Iain Banks' Culture novels, but w/o FTL.)

Which sci-fi universe do you think you'd most like to live in?

If they could make it work, the Trek universe...otherwise the Culture of the afrrementioned Banks.

Finally, what's the coolest future setting you've ever come across?

Tie between Jovian Chronicles and Transhuman Space.

[mactavish]

Strangely enough, I agree with qerlin on this one.

I think that we are destined to end up in a <i>Transhuman Space</i>-type future, though I'd be happier with a superscience <i>Trek</i>-esque setting with aliens and transporters and the like.

mactavish out.