Futurism

{{bronze}}
[[File:FST I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus album cover.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The [[:Fun:Firesign Theatre|Firesign Theatre's]] 1971 album ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus''{{efn|The album satirized futurism (the "Future Fair"), [[The Walt Disney Company|Disneyland/Disneyworld]], and computers ("bus" in the title refers to computer bus). The album also foretold the use of a malicious [[prompt injection]] into a chatbot.}}]]
{{philosophy}}
{{cquote|Events, by definition, are occurrences that interrupt routine processes and routine procedures; only in a world in which nothing of importance ever happens could the futurologists’ dream come true.|||Hannah Arendt<ref>''On Violence'' by Hannah Arendt (1970) Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.</ref>{{rp|7}}}}
'''Futurism''', or '''futurology''', is the study, or hypothetical study, of what might become of the [[human]]ity and our relationship with [[technology]] and our [[environment]]. It is quite often difficult to discern between the realistic, the [[science woo]], and the [[science fiction]]al elements of the works of futurists.

Essentially all of the non-artistic futurist movements, those that are involved with social or political futures, boil down to [[wishful thinking]] by the leadership. This is because human behavior (beyond narrow, short-term behavior) has proven to be extremely hard&nbsp;— verging on impossible&nbsp;— to forecast, either by humans or by computers.<ref name=narayanan>''AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can't, and How to Tell the Difference'' by Arvind Narayanan & Sayash Kapoor (2024) Princeton University Press. {{isbn|069124913X}}.</ref>{{rp|60-98}}

==Christian futurism==
The first use of the term "futurism" appeared during the early 19<sup>th</sup> century in reference to a specific brand of [[Christian]] [[eschatology]] that teaches that many parts of the [[Bible]], especially the [[Book of Revelation]], will take place in the future.<ref>Irving H. Buchen. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0040162577900464 Messianic Futurism: The Christian Example.] ''Technological Forecasting of Social Change'', Volume 10, Issue 2, 1977, Pages 211–221</ref> Obviously, futurism still holds some influence in modern Christianity considering [[Harold Camping|all]] [[Pat Robertson|the]] [[cranks]] still banging on about the [[end times]].

==Proto-futurism==
The term "futurist" was not explicitly used in reference to a number of the 19<sup>th</sup> century [[science fiction]] writers such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, though modern futurists claim to draw inspiration from them.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/03/business/all-hail-jules-verne-patron-saint-of-cyberspace.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm All Hail Jules Verne, Patron Saint of Cyberspace], Edward Rothstein, ''[[New York Times]]''</ref>

==Italian futurism==
[[File:Russolo, Carrà, Marinetti, Boccioni and Severini in front of Le Figaro, Paris, 9 February 1912.jpg|thumb|right|Italian futurists (left to right): Luigi Russolo, Carlo Carrà, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Umberto Boccioni and Gino Severini]]
The original futurist movement was born in early 20<sup>th</sup> century [[Italy]] which was known for exalting [[art]], technology, and violence. One of the key documents of the early futurist movement was ''The Futurist Manifesto'', published in 1909 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. It featured such fun things like:<ref>''[http://bactra.org/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html The Futurist Manifesto]'' by F.T. Marinetti from ''Three Intellectuals in Politics'', edited by James Joll</ref> 
<blockquote>
4. We declare that the splendor of the world has been enriched by a new beauty: the beauty of speed. A racing automobile with its bonnet adorned with great tubes like serpents with explosive breath ... a roaring motor car which seems to run on machine-gun fire, is more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. 

...

7. Beauty exists only in struggle. There is no masterpiece that has not an aggressive character. Poetry must be a violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man. 

...

9. We want to glorify [[war]] — the only cure for the world — militarism, [[patriotism]], the destructive gesture of the [[anarchists]], the beautiful ideas which kill, and [[Misogyny|contempt for woman]]. 

10. [[Anti-intellectualism|We want to demolish museums and libraries]], fight [[morality]], [[feminism]] and all opportunist and [[utilitarian]] cowardice.

11. We will sing of the great crowds agitated by work, pleasure and revolt; the multi-colored and polyphonic surf of [[revolution]]s in modern capitals: the nocturnal vibration of the arsenals and the workshops beneath their violent electric moons: the gluttonous railway stations devouring smoking serpents; factories suspended from the clouds by the thread of their [[Pollution|smoke]]; [[Rail transportation|bridges with the leap of gymnasts flung across the diabolic cutlery of sunny rivers: adventurous steamers sniffing the horizon; great-breasted locomotives, puffing on the rails like enormous steel horses with long tubes for bridle]], and the gliding flight of [[Aircraft|aeroplanes]] whose propeller sounds like the flapping of a flag and the applause of enthusiastic crowds. 
</blockquote>
This positioned Marinetti as the leader of the Italian futurist movement and eventually the head of the Futurist Political Party formed in 1918. Many of the futurists were also Italian [[nationalist]]s and became [[fascism|fascist]] ideologues and supporters of [[Benito Mussolini]].<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/657603 Politics as Art: Italian Futurism and Fascism] by Anne Bowler (1991) ''Theory and Society'' 20(6):763-794.</ref>

===Futurist music===
One of the many strains of futurist [[music]] (see the next couple sections) came out of the Italian movement. Musician Balilla Pratella {{lived|1880|1955}} wrote an article "Manifesto of Futurist Musicians".<ref>[http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/musicians.html "Manifesto of Futurist Musicians"] by Balilla Pratella (1910)</ref> In it, he addresses young musicians (because "only they can understand what I have to say"), encouraging them to ditch commercialism, academia, closed competitions, critics, sacred music, librettist/composer partnerships, vocal centrism, and quite a few other things he believed were holding back musical innovation. Typical of the movement, Pratella adopted a vitriolic tone, never taking a moment's breath to stop painting the "traditionalists" as mortal enemies of music.

Pratella was forgotten over time and 20<sup>th</sup>-century classical music lived on, although the band Art of Noise and the record label ZTT<ref>{{wpl|ZTT Records}}</ref> were named after Futurist concepts.

==Modern futurism==
[[File:Alvin Toffler 02.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Alvin Toffler]]
{{cquote|installing a cyborg tube in my tuxedo which frequently sprays my ass with various advanced powders|||wint<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170922104351/https://twitter.com/dril/status/908993133387579393 installing a cyborg tube in my tuxedo which frequently sprays my ass with various advanced powders] by wint (2:57 AM - 16 Sep 2017) ''Twitter'' (archived from September 22, 2017).</ref>}}
Modern futurism came to be characterized as being more [[science|scientific]] (or [[scientism|scientistic]], as [[postmodernism|some]] might say) while still retaining its artistic elements. Ossip K. Flechtheim called for a field of "futurology" beginning in the 1940s, an attempt to "scientifically" [[historicism|predict the future based on history]].<ref>[http://www.ghandchi.com/iranscope/Anthology/Flechtheim.htm Futurology — The New Science of Probability?] by Ossip K. Flechtheim (1972). In: ''The Futurists'', edited by Alvin Toffler. Random House. ISBN 0394317130. pp. 264-276</ref> ''Future Shock'', by Alvin Toffler is known for being one of the most influential popularizations of futurism. Nowadays the field is rife with anyone who can get the [[media]] to call them futurists.

===Afro-futurism===
{{cquote|Afrofuturism challenges the foundations of what we call "the future". It rejects the a-historic narratives of clean-slate innovation and insists instead on ancestral reckoning. It knows that futures are made, not found – and that who gets to imagine them is a political question.|||Lonny Avi Brooks & Reynaldo Anderson<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2025/apr/03/afrofuturism-imagine-futures How Afrofuturism can help us imagine futures worth living in: Afrofuturism knows that futures are made – and that who gets to make them is a political question] by Lonny Avi Brooks & Reynaldo Anderson (3 Apr 2025 06.00 EDT) ''The Guardian''.</ref>}}
[[File:Sun Ra (1973 publicity photo - Impulse ABC Dunhill).jpg|thumb|left|165px|Sun Ra in 1973]]
Afro-futurism is essentially a reaction to [[racism]] and the attempted erasure of Black history. Faced with a past blotted out by [[white supremacy]], a number of [[African-American]] artists in the mid-20<sup>th</sup> century turned to futurist imagery and ideas. This style eventually came to be known as "Afro-futurism."<ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/what-is-afrofuturism-180982154/ What Is Afrofuturism?] by Shantay Robinson (May 11, 2023) ''Smithsonian Magazine''</ref> One of the most prominent Afro-futurist musicians is Sun Ra, a jazz pianist and bandleader; his film {{wpl|''Space Is the Place''}} is considered a major influence on the genre.<ref>[http://sussex.academia.edu/AaronSandhu/Papers/1529265/How_did_Sun_Ras_Space_is_the_Place_influence_the_Afro-American_diaspora_and_Afrofuturist_counterculture How did Sun Ra’s ‘Space is the Place’ influence the Afro-American diaspora and Afrofuturist counterculture?] by Aaron Sandhu (2013) University of Sussex.</ref> George Clinton's band Funkadelic (later P-Funk mythology or P-Funk) developed a futurist mythology with their eponymous 1970 debut album.<ref>{{wpa|P-Funk mythology}}</ref> A number of other musicians have become associated with Afro-futurism, including Model 500 and DJ Spooky. Afro-futurist science fiction authors included Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany.

===Transhumanism===
[[File:Harari-HomoDeus.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The French edition of ''Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow'' by Yuval Noah Harari]]
{{main|Transhumanism}}
The current incarnation of futurism is known as [[transhumanism]], a somewhat loosely knit movement that has gained a few wealthy financial benefactors in Silicon Valley. Many transhumanists are "[[Singularity|Singularitarians]]" who posit a coming "technological singularity" in which an [[artificial intelligence]] is built that exceeds human intelligence and initiates an explosion of technological advancement. Transhumanists are also proponents of [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]], dubious, or otherwise problematic technology, such as [[cryonics]] and [[mind uploading]]. [[Ray Kurzweil]] is probably the most famous transhumanist around today.

===Cyberfeminism and postgenderism===
{{see also|Abolition of gender}}
The movement that came to be known as "cyborg [[feminism]]" or "cyberfeminism" takes its inspiration from Donna Haraway's 1985 essay "A Cyborg Manifesto".<ref>[https://archive.org/details/manifestlyharawaythecyborgmanifestothecompanionspeciesmanifestorepubblicanesimogeopolitico/page/n3/mode/2up A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century] In: ''Manifestly Haraway'' by Donna Haraway (2019) University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0816650489. Pp. 3-90.</ref> Haraway rebutted the idea that science and technology are inherently [[patriarchal]] or [[capitalism|capitalistic]]. Cyberfeminism tends to concentrate on the intersection of [[gender]] roles and technology.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110211054109/http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/07/21/importance-being-cyborg-feminist On the Importance of Being a Cyborg Feminist] by Kyle Mukittrick ( July 21, 2009 ) ''H+ Magazine'' (archived from February 11, 2011).</ref> Another movement with some overlap with cyberfeminism is postgenderism, which advocates for technological advances in service of [[Abolition of gender|erasing gender]] (and sexual dimorphism, too).<ref>[http://ieet.org/archive/IEET-03-PostGender.pdf Postgenderism: Beyond the Gender Binary], George Dvorsky and James Hughes, Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies</ref> Both of these movements also have some overlap with transhumanism.

===Pop music===
There was a strain of 1980s electronic synthesizer pop of this name, which they got from the Italian ones. It went "ZOMG MACHINES EXIST" in a New Wave sort of manner with silly haircuts and eyeliner. Examples include Visage and Depeche Mode. In the early 2000s, industrial bands VNV Nation and Apoptygma Berzerk invented the name "futurepop" for their version of this.<ref>[http://sortedmagazine.com/Sordid.php3?nID=261 Being a little bit productive] by Girl the Bourgeois Individualist (c. 2003) ''Sorted Magazine''.</ref> Even more confusingly is a resurgence in 1980s-sounding synth-music thanks to films like ''Drive'' and videogames like ''Hotline Miami'' with a number of names, like "Synthwave" or "Retro-Synth."{{efn|The internet seems to have settled on "Synthwave".<ref>[http://rateyourmusic.com/genre/Synthwave/ Synthwave] ''Rate Your Music''.</ref>}} So "future" means "retro," except…

===Retrofuturism===
One definition is basically an aesthetic used in art and design built on all those {{wpl|Retrofuturism|failed futurist predictions}} leading to styles such as "steam punk" or "diesel punk". The subreddit r/RetroFuturism is dedicated to sharing examples of pretty pictures with this aesthetic.<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/RetroFuturism r/RetroFuturism] ''Reddit''.</ref>

Another is futurism which clings to old visions, such as "electrical energy [[too cheap to meter]]"<ref>{{wpa|Too cheap to meter}}</ref> from 1954, or O'Neill Cylinders (giant tubular space stations with farms and buildings on the inside walls) from 1976. There are usually good reasons why that future did not come to pass and its wise to understand those reasons. Adam Becker points to Stripe Press and books such as [https://press.stripe.com/where-is-my-flying-car Where Is My Flying Car?] as a nexus of this kind of retrofuturism in the 2020s.<ref>Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity (2025) pages 215-218</ref>

Retrofuturist fuckups can happen when [[credulous]] billionaires are informed by naïve people, as with [[Elon Musk]], his son ("The future should look like the future."), and the Cybertruck.<ref>[https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/03/tesla-cybertruck-protests-vandalism-elon-musk.html Elon Musk Wanted the Cybertruck to Look Like “the Future.” But It Reminds Us of One Particular Past. The story of the Casspir, which patrolled townships in South Africa when the Tesla CEO was a boy.] by Vivian Chenxue Lu and & Osei-Opare
(March 15, 202510:00 AM) ''Slate''.</ref>

==TESCREAL==
{{main|Oligarchic escapes}}
[[Philosopher]] {{wpl|Émile P. Torres}} and [[computer]] scientist {{wpl|Timnit Gebru}} coined the acronym TESCREAL to stand for a collection of overlapping futurist concepts: [[Transhumanism|'''T'''ranshumanism]], {{wpl|Extropianism|'''E'''xtropianism|,}} [[Singularity|'''S'''ingularitarianism]], '''C'''osmism, [[LessWrong|'''R'''ationalism]], [[Effective altruism|'''E'''ffective '''A'''ltruism]], and {{wpl|Longtermism|'''L'''ongtermism|.}}<ref name=torres1>[https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/ The Acronym Behind Our Wildest AI Dreams and Nightmares: To understand the deepening divide between AI boosters and doomers, it’s necessary to unpack their common origins in a bundle of ideologies known as TESCREAL.] by Émile P. Torres (Jun 15, 2023) ''Truth Dig''.</ref>

==See also==
{{collist|2|
*[[Freeman Dyson]]
*[[Michio Kaku]]
*[[LessWrong]]
*[[Teleology]]
*[[Technocracy]]
*[[Technocracy movement]]
*[[Eliezer Yudkowsky]]
}}

==External links==
*[http://profuturists.org/ Association of Professional Futurists]
*[http://anu.academia.edu/PiersKelly/Papers/1366637/The_Ghost_in_the_Machine_Science_Mysticism_and_Italian_Futurist_Literature The Ghost in the Machine: Science, Mysticism, and Italian Futurist Literature], Piers Kelly, Monash University

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Futurism| ]]
[[Category:Political movements]]
[[Category:Political philosophies]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Science woo]]

Categories: Christianity, Futurism, Political movements, Political philosophies, Science, Science woo