= Belief in Science : FUTURISM : Faith in the Future =

Summary

Futurism is the belief that scientific research and technological development is Western society's single most important endeavor. Futurians promote that view, embrace change and have faith in our future.

The old religions are fading in our society, yet many want to believe in something. Futurism is a religion for modern times, looking to the future not the past, and hopes to be a faith that is good for all of us.

Why do we have religions?

Humans have the incredible fortune to posses intelligence and self-awareness of a sufficient level to comprehend and manipulate the environment in which we find ourselves.

However, this wondrous ability to contemplate brings with it a number of challenging questions; How have we been created? Do we have a 'purpose'? What will happen when we die? (and many more!)

For many, a lack of answers to the first two questions are vexing, even distressing, and in the case of the the latter the prospect of a simple end to awareness at death is intolerable. In my view, those issues were the principal drivers behind the formation of traditional religions, which offered the answers and promised eternal life, with basis for neither. I believe that there is a more rational path to follow.

A rational religion

Why do we regard Futurism as a religion? Because it is a system of beliefs which gives us hope of addressing some of those difficult and often disquieting questions. There are similarities and differences to the more traditional religions:

We have only one tenet: that it is possible to understand and comprehend anything, given sufficient time and intellectual capacity. Belief in science.
We have only one commandment: Be good.
Our priests and priestesses are scientists and technologists.
Our holy texts are are the ever-updating peer-reviewed scientific publications, rather than static books or scrolls.
We 'worship' by educating ourselves, in what ever way is best suited to our particular abilities and interests.
We seek to educate others with reason, logic and fact, not with dogma and myth.
We promise eternal life through more practical means; the pursuit of medical science and technology.
Finally, a religion is incomplete without deity. Our deities, the (from current perspectives) all-knowing and all-powerful beings which will have the answers we seek, shall be either ourselves or our children, empowered by scientific and technological progress. Faith in the future.

Responsibilities

Futurians recognise that as a society we have a number of responsibilities:

Humanitarian responsibility

Global society is a grossly unfair. Technology promises to solve many of those problems though; it is entirely possible to envisage a world where we all (as in every living human) want for nothing and could devote all our time to the pursuit of art, science, and fun. That utopia will only be possible through massive technological advancement and widespread education.

Environmental responsibility

It is clear that we have had a profound impact on our world, with global warming being the most notable example. We must undo any harm to, and learn to live in harmony with, the environment which both gave us our life and sustains life.

Again, the surest path to achieving those goals is through the scientific research and the application of technology. Recycling your drinks cans will not save the planet. Helping to drive forwards fusion research probably will.

Universal responsibility

It is entirely possible that we are the only intelligent life in the Universe, and if so we have an enormous responsibility to preserve intelligence. Further, that we exist at all does suggest that the Universe is capable of spontaneously creating life, but the fact that there is no evidence of intelligence elsewhere suggests that some event tends to kill off intelligent life.

This is yet another reason why scientific research and comprehension of our Universe is so important; we must preserve intelligence in whatever form, which in the short-term may simply mean by caring for our environment but in the longer-term may require some enormous technological feats.

Conservation vs. evolution

Futurians recognise that change is integral to life, whether viewed as an individual, a species or an ecosystem. Just as we seek to continuously evolve intellectually as individuals, discarding some ideas and embracing new, we also recognise that our environment must continuously change around us. This applies to species, and some must adapt and some must be allowed to become extinct.

Therefore, we are not necessarily great advocates of conservation of individual species, but we are against human damage to habitats. For example, the loss of one large (and often overly-anthropomorphised) animal species is often inconsequential compared with the loss of hundreds of yet-unidentified flora and fauna every day through mass deforestation.

Anti-Science

Futurism is not a religion only for scientists; the greatest challenges to advancing our understandings revolve around money and politics. For example, there is much work to be done in the fight against the growing anti-science movement in many countries, and innumerable worthy projects are under threat due to a shortage of research funds.

Technological progress is the single factor that underlies all individuals' improvement in wealth and quality of life, and we must not allow the irrational fear of change that drives the anti-science movement to take that away from us.

PS. If you are looking for information about the art movement, try the Wikipedia page.