"Without the hope that the future will be better than the past, we could not go on" said philosopher John Gray. And for much of recorded history we've had a clear idea of what that better future might be. Yet today, in the developed nations it is becoming increasingly unknown what a positive vision of the future looks like. A 2023 Ipsos study reported optimism that the future will be better than the past is at a 10-year low. Perhaps unsurprising with tales of AI dystopia, climate disaster and economic decline. More fundamentally, Enlightenment visions of knowledge, progress, and equality have foundered on stagnation, post-truth politics and global conflict. Even increased prosperity, the bedrock positive vision of the future for millenia, is questioned and challenged.
Should we give up on the notion that the future will be better than the past? Are we right to regard the pursuit of truth and progress as flawed? Or do we need new visions of the future to motivate, unite and direct us, and if so what are they?