To the World in 2025
preface
This is a coming-of-age ceremony for the post-zero generation. Jacquard wrote the letter at the turn of the century in 1999, when he was 74, expecting his unborn great-grandson to open it in 2025, the centenary of his birth.
Surprisingly, the book’s prediction has so far come true almost entirely, and it seems to have come even earlier in the modern era, when smartphones are spreading at an alarming rate.
This book is suitable for teenagers, suitable for every ignorant and wandering in the confused age of reading. However, as an adult, I can still be moved by the sincere language in the book.
Recommended language
The author writes this “letter” to his great-grandson in plain language. This book is suitable for every teenager and “born in 10 years” to read.
Good quote
- You are no better than the outcast, no less powerful than the so-called strong people of social standing.
- The choice of inaction is meaningless, as is the blind action that follows without understanding.
- Not for the difficulties of the people to the top of the mountain, every step is very laborious, but will not give up, because when the horizon is open, he will get what kind of return.
Contents summary
It may be that he is too old to read this book, and seems to have become numb and accustomed to the content of the book. The author’s worries about the future have come true, especially in the post-epidemic world, where the road ahead is more confused.
Society and the Future
Modern basic science, just like the author, has not changed a lot. The development of basic theories is slow, and more is the continuous development and spread of social resources toward the “limit”. As the future generation, is facing the population explosion, the depletion of social resources, competitive pressure is also increasingly huge.
Technological progress will change the way people produce and even the way they live. Basic social life was much the same as it had been decades earlier. More inflation, soaring prices, social life is still a quantitative accumulation rather than a qualitative leap.
Because you will die
“You’re lucky because you’re going to die.” This is the only sentence on the back of the book, as if to his great-grandson, as well as to himself.
When we are young, “death” is often considered a distant topic. Although a person’s life is no more than 30,000 days, even a simple number can still make people feel that life is “long”. However, time is not a treasure in a treasure chest, and you take a little out of it for every little you spend. Time is always flowing spring, but you will eventually leave the spring. The author’s open-minded attitude is admirable.
The deaths of others are just one chapter in a series of events. But we ourselves are in an entirely different position. We can always see the end of others’ lives, but we can never see the end of our own. It is for this reason that we feel we will never leave the fountain called time
Anxiety about death is contributing to personal growth, and it is an eternal friend in the struggle against immortality.
About the human species
With the continuous development of science and technology, human beings are more and more aware that they are the masters of the world. People worry about the looting and destruction of the world’s resources, while repeating the same mistakes as if the world were eternal.
This kind of endless cycle seems to exist in a kind of rule, which makes people worried but helpless. In the future, human beings will also look for new possibilities in the continuous worry and progress.
Human composition:
People seem to be divided from the moment they are born, not simply male and female, but masculine, neuter and feminine. The evolution and development of humanism have contributed to the diversity and independence of modern people’s personalities. However, no matter where you live, people are divided, and men and women are treated differently, which is a relic of ancient times.
Just like the two poles of human beings, there seem to be two poles everywhere in the world. Everything has its opposite, but our cognition of the universe and the world is just like that of babies.
The change of the world
The author’s desired world of “zero growth” in developed countries seems to have never come (but zero population growth has already been achieved). The world has moved on from the Cold War. The looting of resources is still going on, and the great powers are still using nuclear weapons to endanger each other, and then continue to “downsize” with staggering steps. Einstein probably never knew that what made world peace was the destruction of mankind by nuclear weapons, and Einstein woke up to the fact that there was no way back.
conclusion
As adults, this book seems to be always suitable for subway reading, so this is a simple read. But in the connection of meeting others, everyone is more than “himself.”