Apocalyptic I

Challenge 16: If the world were to end tomorrow, 

what would you do with your remaining time on earth?

Oh, but don't you just love that, seeing great monuments fall, finding abandoned grandeur corrode to chaotic beauty?

As much as I'd like to relay how zen and collected I'd be, the reality of it is that, in the event of an apocalypse I'd honestly be terrified beyond being. A lot of people would perhaps address the issue with a list of things to do before they die, some poignant, some in a 'you only live once' manner; but the truth of it is that were I to know the exact date of a world ending I'd probably curl up in the arms of my mother while crying for salvation. That aside, at the topic's initial glance, the first thought popped up in my mind was: do you mean if the world as we know it to end? Theoretically a world could still exist beyond the point of our present existence. And it's so interesting to figure that out, how our species would evolve, bearing in mind other people's theory of a post apocalyptic society.

Suzanne Collins described a world of segregation and extremes; where after a nuclear war, the human population was divided into a super rich, super extravagant and strangely stylish population, and another community of poor, malnourished, sacrificing, community to serve their luxurious counterparts. The same concept was propagated in Blomkamp's Elysium, where a first class society relished in a high tech, pampered living, and stragglers on earth were riddled with disease and disaster. It was taken to higher extremes by Wachowski and Tykwer, depicting how the humans on earth reverted to stone age survival and cannibalism, while those residing in outer space relied on nuclear fusion technology.

In his book The Time Keeper, Albom envisioned a distant future, where human forms were slightly shifted in size and physique, and were devoid of emotion: a man who was preserved in ice became a museum specimen, and his thoughts wired to a broadcasting system for exhibition, just so the population could understand 'emotions'. Works by Proyas and Asimov (Bicentennial Man), and even Spielberg, among many others, conveyed the idea of dominant artificial intelligence. Where technology became so prominent that it took over human interaction, relationships and judgement. Several articles in TIME addressed the issue of religion being irrelevant in a future society. That the word and structure, but perhaps not its values, would cease and become historical 'myths'.

The most interesting part of these predictions is that it's almost already true. Because i) division of the global community is already occurring. A sweep through international news would give an idea of the extremes in first world and third world countries; "I desire Balenciaga vs. The soil is soft for sleeping" ii) the very concept of religion is being questioned more so at this age than in any other in history. With the world becoming such a barrier free plane, a multicultural, multireligious generation exposed and tolerant of each other's beliefs, are already adjusting the outlook towards religion; iii) as per technology taking over human interaction, a look around in an average household can clock in the amount of machinery and mechanisms being applied in daily life.

But perhaps the singularly most intriguing of it all is that all these predictions are leaning towards dividing extremes: where interaction is cut off, subjective faith and emotion is abandoned, and society is alienated and estranged. Why, is no one predicting a world where the two extremes would work together and create a generically balanced life system? Why is no one assuming that post world demolition, the human species would support each other, instead of preserving a rich and blessed set, while ignoring the weak and unlucky? Why are technological corporations not equally focusing and creating programs facilitating real time human interaction, rather than providing applications that distract them? And is the irrelevance of religion directly related to the corrosion of our integral moral values?

It's questions like this, about the current society's structure, that will inevitably shape the future generation, and the determine the manner in which the world would end.