In the Year 2525

For having been the most popular song in the year 1969, I am always amazed by how many people have never heard Zager and Evans' eerie, slightly prophetic song, 'In the Year 2525'. I was listening to this the other day while writing some scripts for a friend's MUD (another question, another entry); the result was that I organized the many daily thoughts that I have on the implications of the rapid growth in technology that we have come to take as commonplace in our every day lives. After looking at my notes, scribbled in my shoddy handwriting (after all, I grew up attached to a keyboard), I decided that perhaps it was time for me to start up a blog.

Aha! A novel idea! A blog, that I could then attach to Facebook, Twitter, Digg - and every other Social Media site that has become as integrated into my life as walking across the street to go to the store. I could then go on to write about some of the more alarming technological advances (optical implants, nanotechnology aimed at reversing aging, universal WiFi, robotics, etc); and more importantly, I could talk about what the media so very often does not delve into when reporting on such niche topics - the realistic implications on your (and my) daily lives.

For today, let's take a look at the lyrics from that great Zager and Evans song, and see how we are keeping up with their proposed checklist to reach the Apocalypse:

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In the year 2525 ... if man is still alive ...
If woman can survive ... they may find ...
(Well, this is certainly undetermined. I can report that as of right now, while I smoke my last Parliament Full-Flavor, that mankind hasn't checked out quite yet.)

In the year 3535 - Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies ...
Everything you think, do and say - is in the pill you took today ...
(Zoloft is a hell of a drug, isn't it? Can't wait to see what they come out with next.)

In the year 4545 - Ain't gonna need your teeth (won't need your eyes) ...
You won't find a thing to chew ... nobody's going to look at you ...
(Well, we haven't gotten to the point where famine is curable by a food pill; however, it isn't really unthinkable, is it? And already, with the ever-increasing integration of internet and social media with our lives, our interaction with other human beings is becoming more filtered through a Third Party  - and less face-to-face - than ever before. Future articles will explore exactly how I believe that this will explode within the next ten-to-twenty years.)

In the year 5555 - your arms hanging limp at your side ...
Your legs got nothing to do - some machine's doin' that for you ...
(Well, we can already see that the song's prophecy is faulty, if only in that technology is moving a lot faster than those old hippy folk-singers could have imagined. Media integration and a solution to world hunger, coupled with the practical application of insanely advanced robotics that already exist - it is not hard to imagine a near-future where apathy could lead to physical atrophy.)

In the year 6565 - Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife ...
You'll pick your sons, pick your daughters too ...
From the bottom of a long glass tube. Whoa-oh-oh ...
(Well, this is a confirmed hit! Does anyone else find it a little frightening that artificial insemination has grown to the point where you can get very specific with the traits you would like to see genetically instilled upon your children? It isn't mainstream, but with the continued devaluation of the family in our culture, I can definitely see a future where the richest of the rich pay for genetically superior children. I guess that I shouldn't have watched Gattaca when I was a kid; still, nothing to worry about, right? Move it along - don't fear change, don't fear the future - instead, embrace it, no matter how cold and rife with potential class domination it may seem to be.)

In the year 7510 ... If God's a-comin', he ought to make it by then ...
Maybe he'll look around himself and say,
"Guess it's time for the Judgement Day."


In the year 8510 ... God is gonna shake his mighty head ...
He'll either say, "I'm pleased where Man has been."
Or tear it down and start again ... whoa-oh-oh.
(For these two verses, I would have to wax religious and claim knowledge about something that is far beyond me. Still, these are maybe the most interesting lyrics of the song; it seems that Zager and Evans are suggesting that there is a cycle of evolution that spins out of control, only to be humbled by a force far greater than anything that evolution or our species can affect. Now, I don't know if that is true or not, but there is a lesson to be learned from the Dinosaurs here, from the great Empires of our history's past; it is that age old saying and it is more appropriate now than ever before ... "The bigger they are - the harder they fall.")

In the Year 9595 - I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive
He's taken everything this old Earth can give ...
And he ain't put back nothin'.
(This is really the most damning sin that we, as a species, have committed; we devour resources so much in every little thing that we do, that we are the greatest threat to this planet and every species that lives on it - including ourselves, of course. I do not know that this can really be fixed at this point, though I believe firmly that it can - and should be - resisted. If new technology can do anything, it can find less harmful ways to draw upon the resources that we need for our continued growth.)

Now it's been ten thousand years - Man has cried a billion tears
For what? He never knew - now Man's reign is through ...
But through Eternal Night - the twinkling of starlight ...
So very far away ... maybe it's only yesterday ...
(After this, the song begins again from the beginning for several verses - until it fades out. Again, I think that the songwriters were suggesting that we are stuck in a loop, or pattern of sorts, that is destined to start again eventually. For such a depressing song, the idea of a constant future does do a little to provide a star-twinkling of hope.)

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Now, don't immediately paint me as some sort of conspiracy theorist or the like. Of course, this oldie is ripe with sensationalism; however, these are sensational times that we live in. If you are reading the blog, the chances are above average that you are aware of new technologies that are on the verge of arriving to the public. But how much do you (or I) really know about what is coming? How much have you thought about how something as simple as your iPhone may continue to advance and affect your life in even more profound ways than it already has? We are living on the verge of a great leap in human history; technology has built up at an exponential rate to the point that we are at right now, but it has only scratched the surface of what is possible. Every new technology that builds on old technology is reaching for the stars - an end to aging, curing impossible diseases, telepathy (if you don't believe me, make sure to read my next article), other-world colonization, genetic alteration, true robotics and Artificial Intelligence, the existence of Big Brother (hello Google - I hope that you had a good day today) ... and there is nothing that we can do but adapt or be miserable.

Adapting seems like the better option, eh? But that doesn't mean that anyone should be blind. I believe that my generation, and that is Generation X (barely), is going to be a generation of observers. The generations that come after us will likely buy into new technological candies very easily (and it's so easy!) Perhaps the best thing to do is to educate yourself, sit back with your movie-butter popcorn ... and enjoy the show. Maybe we'll even still be alive and kicking in 2525 to check in with Zager and Evans for their Reunion Tour.