Dear Justin and others who read this,
Today it was ten years ago that I was envisioning a future I would like to live in. Today I was thinking
of you. And I hope you are there. I’ve made drawings of cities, living spaces, clothing, vehicles and
many more.
I imagined a future of living buildings, actual living buildings. Walls and shapes that can expand,
shrink, and breathe. Buildings that are connected organically making some kind of superorganism.
Clothes that shrunk in the summer and expanded in the winter cold. I imagined innovative ways of
transportation, drew pictures of weird animal vehicles that moved around in flowing ways.
I envisioned new ways of organizing society, religion, and organization. More de-centralized, using
torus and fractal principles, searching for the infinite. Synthesizing nature and technology, moving
towards understanding life and growth as a society and developing towards a more meaningful world
of love and holistic understanding. It was a nature flourished biodiverse adaptive complex ecosystem
world I envisioned.
It made me happy to make my mind wonder towards this world somewhere in the far future. To
think freely and drew whatever I desired. And hoped to inspire others in realizing this vision.
But I specifically didn’t add a date to my visions.
I was afraid that this future was long to be reached. Because I’m afraid for a societal setback due to
some climate related disaster within the coming 10 years. I’m afraid that by now, many people,
animals, plants, and insects have lost their lives. I might have lost mine.
I’m sorry for this. In the coming 10 years, I will work on improving earth’s ecosystem, and avoid these
deaths as much as I can, making you able to read this letter. But I wasn’t that influential at the time
of writing this. I hope it gets better.
If I’m still alive by now, I hope I still have that spark to think about and work on a better world. I
hope I have some prototypes that relates to the picture I’ve attached. I hope other people are
working on it too.
At least I hope that people are working on love. I hope we’re still collaborating. I hope we’re still
working on sustaining each other, realizing interconnection and interdependency.
I hope I’m still feeling curious, enthusiastic and seeing the good in people. I hope I still think, create,
and resonate with the world. I hope I still feel love, meaning and purpose. I hope I still see what I see
now. And experience what I experience now. I hope I play. And find my way.
Somehow, I hope I haven’t fell for the ideocracy of war and conflict, and aren’t full of hatred and
wroth. But I might be too naïve to understand this at this moment. I hope not. But I respect your
perspective, as I can’t imagine what you’ve been through,
But I hope you still can remember mine and smile.
Love, Justin
This time-capsule project is part of the reading sessions Science Fiction minus Fiction Futures, curated by Lilian de Jong.
Creating a time capsule is a form of time travel. Imagine a future where the world is blooming and blossoming, what does it look like, feel like, smell like, sound like? We invite you to shape the future history of the world with us.
It’s easy to see how current world problems might lead to collapse, it’s more daring and difficult to imagine a scenario where it might all turn out for the better. A possible future that can inspire us through times ahead and open us up to opportunities. Change is inevitable, it is the strongest force in the universe. It is up to us to use it for good, to accept it and adapt to it. With the time capsule we imagine a world that might look like science fiction, but who knows, looking back after 10 years, it might have been science fiction without fictional futures.
Can you read the future? Join our Time Capsule Project:
Imagine a future where the world is flourishing, where society is thriving. How do we live, work, eat, love? What technological advancements have greatly improved our life? How did we take on climate change? What role do arts and culture have? What do our laws, education system, government look like? Are we traveling in space? How does the Future smell? What color does the Future have? Pick one or all of these aspects, or choose a different one of your own preference. Next, write down, record a voice memo, a video, draw something, create a scrapbook, or anything how you think it will evolve into the future. It doesn’t have to be very big, or very long. Maybe the future is just one word.
Submit your scenario to timecapsule@futurebased.org.