Xavier Onassiss Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 I mean the Near Future and Far Future. How 'near' is the Near Future, and at what point is it no longer considered 'near'? Ten years? Twenty? Fifty? And what about the Far Future? Is there a working definition of what's considered distant enough from the present to be considered 'far'? A century from now? A millennium? Or is it some higher order of magnitude? Just wondering how others on the Star Hero board see this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? I like to play at least a couple hundred years out for the near future; far enough that significant changes may have taken place but the "landscape" is still pretty recognizable (conveniently also enough time that technological development and general historical ideas aren't likely to be "proven wrong" anytime soon). For the far future, I like to think on the order of tens of thousands of years, much like Asimov's Empire and Foundation storylines. I'm not against playing around in between, but that's my general viewpoint on timescales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? It's a very good question. For me: "Near" future = Things may have changed somewhat, but there is still a lot that remains recognizable. As regards the "when", I tend to think of near future as being close enough that I or a contemporary might live long enough to see some of it. Maybe. Or, at least, have a direct influence on its unfolding. "Far" future = Major changes, not much that is recognizable outside of museums or whatever. Possibly millennia from now, maybe longer. Possibly need some term for the period between "near" and "far" futures. "Middle" future? Descriptive, but doesn't really work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? To my mind, "near future" is within my lifetime -- or "within the lifetime of anyone likely to read this before the sequel comes out." Gene Roddenberry wanted to avoid putting Star Trek in the near future, so that he could avoid anyone looking at the show's predictions and saying, "Oh, you got it wrong!" to his face. (That still ended up happening, with the Eugenics Wars. Sometimes you just can't win.) "Far future" would be "beyond the lifetime of anyone likely to care whether I got it right or not." To Leonardo da Vinci, we'd be about at the start of the "far future." We're right about in the heart of "far future" for Aristotle or Plato. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? To me, near-future is ten to fifty years out. I'd ditto Bob's "my lifetime" but I use the fiducial age of death of 75, and that's now only 20 years out for me, and 25 years out is still "near future". "Far future" is at least 100 years out, IMO. The unspoken connotation is "no one now alive can hope to see this", and a century is the lower bound to make that statement, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AirborneRob Posted November 3, 2010 Report Share Posted November 3, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? I cant quite put the " when " into the discussion because several of you folks have given some good options for that. History has had a tendency to steer people into the when = now range. 30-50 years can see a significant change or a minor change. Classic example is pre- WWII. Limited technologies such as Aircraft as we see the world leap from propellor driven craft to 1st generation jet propulsion. That change happened within the 3 1/2 years the U.S. was at war. Look back a little further and see the advent of the first aircraft to successfully have sustained flight, 1903. Within the next 2 years following that they had a fully functional fixed-wing aircraft. Exactly 40 years after that, we split the atom and that significantly changed the world. 24 years after the end of WWII, the first moon landing took place in 1969. I apologize for the mini history lesson here, i just wanted to show that necessity has truly been the mother of invention and a guiding hand on when the future will be seen. I hope this has been somewhat helpful as far as what you are looking to introduce and when it should be introduced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinanju Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? For me "near future" means: close enough that sane, rational people are planning for it. Not pie-in-the-sky World's Fair "Look what the future will be!" but spending-real-money-on-realistic-plans planning. Engineers designing future generations of computer chips (or fighter jets or highway projects), for instance. Architects working out how to build structures that haven't been done yet but that someone is actually paying them cold, hard cash to design with the intent to see it constructed. That sort of thing. The "far future" is anything beyond that, out to "thousands or millions of years in the future." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? The future is NOW, no I mean NOW, no I really mean NOW... Aw geez Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawnmower Boy Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? The rule is, the future to-morrow and the future yesterday, but never the future to-day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndianaJoe3 Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? "Today is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday, instead of treating yesterday like the today it was. If you do the same thing tomorrow, then the day after it'll become the yesterday you regret." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? To me, "near future" is the time period in which stuff that's "on the drawing board" now will come out. "Far future" is the time period during which stuff based on theories that don't even exist yet and other theories that have yet to be proven comes out. Ballpark, I'd say NF is probably 10-30 years, essentially the next generation. Far future would have to be beyond our lifetimes, so 50-100 years or longer. In between would be "stuff based on proven theories, but not yet on the drawing board", or mid-future. I guess that'd be "when we are really really old", maybe 30-50 years from now. From Marie Curie to Hiroshima is less than 50 years. From the Wright Brothers to the moon landing, less than 70 years. From the telegraph to the telephone, about 25-30 years. From Univac and eniac to Windows 95, about 40-50 years. From the steam engine to the first commercial nuclear power plant, about 150 years, probably qualifies as "far future". Going much further back than that takes you to time periods that seem incredibly primitive compared to our own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? In the CU, 2020 to 2080 is the official dates of Cyber Hero age and is considered near future roleplaying. From 2080 to 2200 is the time Solar Hero and could be consider mid-future to far future. Anything past 2200 (Alien Wars, Terran Empire, The Galactic Federation and Galactic Champions) would definitely be considered far future campaigns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? You just missed it. Your future has passed. Lucius Alexander The palindromedary obligingly offers to schedule you a future at a later date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccabe Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? Would this help? http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prestidigitator Posted November 7, 2010 Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? You just missed it. Your future has passed. Damn! Already? Colonel Sandurz: Try here. Stop. Dark Helmet: What the hell am I looking at? When does this happen in the movie? Colonel Sandurz: Now. You're looking at now, sir. Everything that happens now, is happening now. Dark Helmet: What happened to then? Colonel Sandurz: We passed then. Dark Helmet: When? Colonel Sandurz: Just now. We're at now now. Dark Helmet: Go back to then. Colonel Sandurz: When? Dark Helmet: Now. Colonel Sandurz: Now? Dark Helmet: Now. Colonel Sandurz: I can't. Dark Helmet: Why? Colonel Sandurz: We missed it. Dark Helmet: When? Colonel Sandurz: Just now. Dark Helmet: When will then be now? Colonel Sandurz: Soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted November 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? Brain hurting now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjalund Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? Brain hurting now.... Brain hurting then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted November 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Re: When, Exactly, Is The Future? Anyone who didn't see that coming, minus one internets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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