Paleofuture: 2063 A.D.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Yes, I know that the year 2063 hasn't arrived yet, but most of the predictions put forth in this little book -- written in 1963 -- have long since passed into the realm of paleofuture.

In short, 2063 A.D. is a collection of predictions -- some brief, some long -- taken down in 1963 and sealed in a time capsule at the General Dynamics headquarters in California in 1963. The building has long since been razed and the time capsule is presumed to have been destroyed, as was the original copy of the book.

Fewer than 200 copies were printed, but fortunately, at least one survived to be scanned and converted into PDF format. I'm a sucker for paleofuture writing. To me, it says far more about the time in which it was created than the time being predicted about, and it's a great way to peer into the minds of the people who wrote the predictions -- seeing their hopes and fears for the future. For those of you writing alternate histories, it's also a great way to perceive -- with a little extrapolation -- how someone might have acted in a given situation.

The book is at the link below, and as it's only 50 pages, it's a quick read.

http://www.lulu.com/content/2277078

 

[Ivan Druzhkov]

Nice find, Amergio. I haven’t finished reading through it yet, but a lot of the predictions the contributors gave are quite interesting. Right now, the thing that has surprised me the most is the recurring prediction that ballistic missiles are on the way out, either through new advances in high-end weapons systems or due to the perfection of ABM defense. I was also rather surprised to see a number of writers suggesting that ideological conflict between the superpowers will not die out, but the expansion of humanity into the solar system will result in the decline of the arms race and its eventual replacement with economic and resource competition. As it so happens, S. M. Stirling’s Lords of Creation novels have that exact scenario unfolding happening once life is discovered on Venus and Mars in the 1960s.

Oh, and just so everyone knows, Lyndon Johnson contributed a few pages to the book as well.

 

[Thande]

I was also rather surprised to see a number of writers suggesting that ideological conflict between the superpowers will not die out, but the expansion of humanity into the solar system will result in the decline of the arms race and its eventual replacement with economic and resource competition.

I have this spoof science book written in the US in the 1980s, which has the Soviet Union dominating all the galaxies in the outer reaches of the universe, whereas the USA has all the ones in the middle (hence "Red shift" ). Obviously that was a joke, but it's interesting to reflect how, right up until 1989, a lot of people thought that the Cold War would go on pretty much forever...

 

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I have this spoof science book written in the US in the 1980s, which has the Soviet Union dominating all the galaxies in the outer reaches of the universe, whereas the USA has all the ones in the middle (hence "Red shift" ). Obviously that was a joke, but it's interesting to reflect how, right up until 1989, a lot of people thought that the Cold War would go on pretty much forever...

For me, Ben Bova's Colony (released in 1978) seems to typify the SF view of the future cold war. You've got a surviving Soviet Union, and tensions still exist, but the situation has thawed to the point that both sides aren't actively fighting each other around the world.

 

[Gimple]

Got to re-read 2063. I think I read it over 30 years ago. I now confuse the details with another Scifi journey book, about some ranger who rides a telepathic moose fighting off mutant rats and people till his super powers are destroyed. They are then later fixed by a giant slug, who he finds with the help of a fifteen year old girl who speaks ebonics from the kingdom of delaware.

 

[Tyr]

I love all those kids books on space from the 70s and 80s that have cliche moon bases and doughnut colonies on the last pages.
Ah childhood memories, back when I thought I could be something.

 

[Gimple]

I love all those kids books on space from the 70s and 80s that have cliche moon bases and doughnut colonies on the last pages.
Ah childhood memories, back when I thought I could be something.

Found a description of it.

Per Hiero Desteen was a priest, a telepath - and a highly trained killer. Together with his great riding moose and the young bear who was his friend, he was on an extraordinary mission. For this was five thousand years after the holocaust known as The Death. Now the evil Brotherhood of the Unclean was waging all-out war against the few remnants of normal humanity, determined to wipe out all traces of its emerging civilization. Hiero's task was to bring back a lost secret of the ancients that might save the humans. But his path lay through the very heart of the territory ruled by the Unclean and their hordes of mutated, intelligent, savage beast followers. And the Unclean were waiting for him!

 

[Gimple]

Yes, I know that the year 2063 hasn't arrived yet, but most of the predictions put forth in this little book -- written in 1963 -- have long since passed into the realm of paleofuture.

In short, 2063 A.D. is a collection of predictions -- some brief, some long -- taken down in 1963 and sealed in a time capsule at the General Dynamics headquarters in California in 1963. The building has long since been razed and the time capsule is presumed to have been destroyed, as was the original copy of the book.

Fewer than 200 copies were printed, but fortunately, at least one survived to be scanned and converted into PDF format. I'm a sucker for paleofuture writing. To me, it says far more about the time in which it was created than the time being predicted about, and it's a great way to peer into the minds of the people who wrote the predictions -- seeing their hopes and fears for the future. For those of you writing alternate histories, it's also a great way to perceive -- with a little extrapolation -- how someone might have acted in a given situation.

The book is at the link below, and as it's only 50 pages, it's a quick read.

http://www.lulu.com/content/2277078

Now I know I am confused. I was thinking of Daybreak 2250 AD.

 

[Mysterius]

Only read the first ten pages so far, but they don't seem too far out. And we still have 55 years (more than the 45 since 1963!) to fulfill the more far out predictions.

Of the ones I've read so far, I think "J.R. Dempsey (President, General Dynamics | Astronautics)" is closest to 2008's vision of 2063 (not 2008 itself, of course, since he's thinking of 2063), though "Lieutenant Commander M. Scott Carpenter, USN (Mercury Astronaut)" on Page 7 was more intriguing to read.


What did he predict for 2063?

• Great changes in physical sciences, but even more in life sciences.
  • Genetic engineering.
  • "Ability to control, modify, or stimulate human emotions chemically and electronically."
  • 150 yr. life expectancy
• Exhaustion of fossil fuels, use of nuclear fusion.
• "Single world order of society under the law", b/c of shortening of distances around the world (in terms of communication and interaction), though "its nature will depend on the perseverance with which the several alternatives are pursued".
• Great moral question: genetic engineering.
• Fast travel around the world possible, but will not be used frequently b/c "other communication techniques will make it possible to see and speak to any person in the world in real time".
• Space colonies unlikely, though Moon and Mars will have labs/outposts, and unmanned probes will travel throughout solar system.
• Greatest concern will be human responsibility toward other humans, as it was in 1963.

Doesn't that sound like modern predictions of 2063?

 

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Doesn't that sound like modern predictions of 2063?

I would certainly hope so! Predictions about the future generally fall under the category of things that we hope will happen. Since many of those things haven't happened yet, I'd be afraid if we weren't hoping for such good things.