Seems to me there are historians and futurists, and with regards to our present day, they serve an identical purpose, albeit one approached from diametric angles. Even if sometimes it’s a byproduct of their work, they influence attitudes and attitude-driven behavior in our society, both how you and I carry ourselves, all the way up to the highest levels of policy making in a given country. Historians, in one corner, represent that old axiom that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Of course, you don’t have to be a historian to engage in that work, and recognize past evils. Futurists, in the other corner, tell us about what could be, and what could be often should be avoided. We don’t have to be futurists either, because we have Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.
Ep. 82 – Dystopian Fiction: Challenging the Utility of Pessimism
The Battle Beyond Planet X 