Big Think

wayne collis on January 10, 2008, 8:09 AM

I think it depends on how we feel about past generations. After all, we and the life that most of us live is pretty much what was left behind of those who were here before we set foot on this planet. And lets face the truth and be honest, things are pretty messed up today as we know it. For the most part, life almost seems like some sort of experiment where much of what we do in the here and now, the results will not be immediately present until sometime in the distant future, another time, our time, the time of future generations. To answer the question: yes. There is going to plenty of hate, but not a whole lot of time to think about it. Most of time is going to be spent fixing and apologizing for the problems of the past, our present day misadventures.

wayne collis on January 10, 2008, 1:09 PM

I think it depends on how we feel about past generations. After all, we and the life that most of us live is pretty much what was left behind of those who were here before we set foot on this planet. And lets face the truth and be honest, things are pretty messed up today as we know it. For the most part, life almost seems like some sort of experiment where much of what we do in the here and now, the results will not be immediately present until sometime in the distant future, another time, our time, the time of future generations. To answer the question: yes. There is going to plenty of hate, but not a whole lot of time to think about it. Most of time is going to be spent fixing and apologizing for the problems of the past, our present day misadventures.

Ernesto Gutierrez on January 16, 2008, 11:54 AM

I think not necessarily hate us but very disconfort.

We have depleted the natural resources, we still and for a long while have been using fossil fuels, we are actively engaged in wars, income inequalities are worsening all across the world, etc

Ernesto Gutierrez on January 16, 2008, 4:54 PM

I think not necessarily hate us but very disconfort.
We have depleted the natural resources, we still and for a long while have been using fossil fuels, we are actively engaged in wars, income inequalities are worsening all across the world, etc

Deutsch Touareg on January 26, 2008, 3:12 AM

Maybe not.
If we face the problems now, w'll be remembered like the generation that awaked on schedule.

Stephen King on January 26, 2008, 5:35 AM

It seems like a silly question. Implied is the idea that we don't like what is happening now and therefore our children won't like it either. That is a given since we teach our children what to like and not like. Humans are unique in our ability to reason and that reasoning by necessity contains an element of historical influence. So we take our history, however flawed by inaccurate opinion, look at what is happening now and project what will happen in the future. Since our recollection of historical events is usually colored by the biases of the historian, our projection of future events is often times just plain wrong. A better question might be "What can we change that we are doing now so that our grandchildren won't hate us in the future?" As long as we continue to draw on our past for projections about the future, the answer will always be "Nothing." Keep doing what we've always done and we will keep getting what we've always got.

Camilo Gutierrez on January 26, 2008, 6:15 AM

We are just the generation of fear. We spend out time thinking in better ways to discrimate people and new ways to spread the fear. Fear is the motivation of everything that happens today.

Deutsch Touareg on January 26, 2008, 8:12 AM

Maybe not.
If we face the problems now, w’ll be remembered like the generation that awaked on schedule.

Stephen King on January 26, 2008, 10:35 AM

It seems like a silly question. Implied is the idea that we don’t like what is happening now and therefore our children won’t like it either. That is a given since we teach our children what to like and not like. Humans are unique in our ability to reason and that reasoning by necessity contains an element of historical influence. So we take our history, however flawed by inaccurate opinion, look at what is happening now and project what will happen in the future. Since our recollection of historical events is usually colored by the biases of the historian, our projection of future events is often times just plain wrong. A better question might be “What can we change that we are doing now so that our grandchildren won’t hate us in the future?” As long as we continue to draw on our past for projections about the future, the answer will always be “Nothing.” Keep doing what we’ve always done and we will keep getting what we’ve always got.

Camilo Gutierrez on January 26, 2008, 11:15 AM

We are just the generation of fear. We spend out time thinking in better ways to discrimate people and new ways to spread the fear. Fear is the motivation of everything that happens today.

Douglas Whitmore on February 13, 2008, 5:23 PM

Why would future generations hate us anymore than we hate prior generations? I dont know of any effort towards actually hating previous generations. So, for me, it makes the probably of future generations hating us, moot.
A generalized question which is short-sighted as are all things general.

Douglas Whitmore on February 13, 2008, 10:23 PM

Why would future generations hate us anymore than we hate prior generations? I dont know of any effort towards actually hating previous generations. So, for me, it makes the probably of future generations hating us, moot.
A generalized question which is short-sighted as are all things general.

Geneva Lorraine Fiore on February 28, 2008, 10:53 AM

I hate past generations for dismantling the great monarchies and empires. Now I shall never be Queen of France. :(

Geneva Lorraine Fiore on February 28, 2008, 3:53 PM

I hate past generations for dismantling the great monarchies and empires. Now I shall never be Queen of France. :(

Tim Ray on August 12, 2008, 9:53 AM

of course they will hate us….well those raised by liberal parents. John Edwards has taught us there are two Americas..one who goes home to their wives….and those who keep girlfriends

Tim Ray on August 12, 2008, 1:53 PM

of course they will hate us….well those raised by liberal parents. John Edwards has taught us there are two Americas..one who goes home to their wives….and those who keep girlfriends

Vinton E Heuck on August 12, 2008, 3:38 PM

We are, always have been, and will always be inherently selfish and shortsighted. The difference now is that we are in the midst of what may be the ultimate crisis. We should be dealing with climate change as if we were under threat from a mortal enemy; we should be on a total war-time footing. Our limited imagination coupled with our love for comforts and immediate security trumps our dedication to future generations
Our grandchildren probably won't hate us because they will be too busy scratching to survive to have much time to think about the generation that let them down.

Vinton E Heuck on August 12, 2008, 3:39 PM

We are, always have been, and will always be inherently selfish and shortsighted. The difference now is that we are in the midst of what may be the ultimate crisis. We should be dealing with climate change as if we were under threat from a mortal enemy; we should be on a total war-time footing. Our limited imagination coupled with our love for comforts and immediate security trumps our dedication to future generations
Our grandchildren probably won't hate us because they will be too busy scratching to survive to have much time to think about the generation that let them down.

Vinton E Heuck on August 12, 2008, 7:38 PM

We are, always have been, and will always be inherently selfish and shortsighted. The difference now is that we are in the midst of what may be the ultimate crisis. We should be dealing with climate change as if we were under threat from a mortal enemy; we should be on a total war-time footing. Our limited imagination coupled with our love for comforts and immediate security trumps our dedication to future generations
Our grandchildren probably won’t hate us because they will be too busy scratching to survive to have much time to think about the generation that let them down.

Vinton E Heuck on August 12, 2008, 7:39 PM

We are, always have been, and will always be inherently selfish and shortsighted. The difference now is that we are in the midst of what may be the ultimate crisis. We should be dealing with climate change as if we were under threat from a mortal enemy; we should be on a total war-time footing. Our limited imagination coupled with our love for comforts and immediate security trumps our dedication to future generations
Our grandchildren probably won’t hate us because they will be too busy scratching to survive to have much time to think about the generation that let them down.

Richard Treumann on May 6, 2009, 3:48 PM

Richard Treumann on May 6, 2009, 4:06 PM

There have been thousands of generations of human beings on the earth. Most of those generations have had no real ability to change the planet or deplete its resources.  No matter what they did to their peers, they left the physical planet pretty much the way they found it.

The last few generations have been different, not because we are more or less evil but because what we have done will leave the earth markedly altered and our children will need to live on the earth we leave behind.

 If you look at history you will see that there have always been situations in which people have been horrible to each other.  There were 1000 years ago and there are today.  For the most part, once everyone who was alive at the time has died off,  we do not hate a prior generation for what it did to its contemporaries.  The generation 100 years from now will not hate our generation for the attack on the World Trade towers or for war in Iraq or any other current travesty.

If they hate us it will be because they have evidence about what the planet offered as a place to thrive before we did whatever we are doing to it.  They will know what the planet they live on has become.  If the damage can be pinned on the century you and I passed through the world, yes we may be hated for centuries.

Marcus Cimino on May 18, 2009, 4:21 PM

I like how he immediately runs to climate change when he’s asked this question because he is personaly responsible for carrying on the idea that the more debt we put onto our future kids, the less struggle we will need to endure now. I took a macro course based off of his text book and it is no exageration that the Keynsian/Krugman view was “why look toward the long term, worry about now and when the time comes well deal with the consequences.” That is how we got into this mess, that’s the advice he gave politicians and bankers and thats the advice he will continue to give.