Summary

An open letter addresses time travelers, reflecting on humanity's shortcomings, unfulfilled ambitions, and questions about the future.

Abstract

The author of the open letter expresses regret and apologizes to future time travelers for the current state of the world, acknowledging that distractions and the pursuit of trivialities have prevented humanity from achieving its higher ambitions. The letter speculates about the nature of future society, questioning the relevance of jobs, the state of education, and whether humanity has overcome its mediocrity. It also touches on the curiosity about how pressing issues like global warming, nuclear weapons, and artificial intelligence have been resolved in the future. The writer ponders on the possibility of non-human time travelers and the lack of extraterrestrial contact, while also reflecting on the personal and existential implications of human legacy and the transient nature of individual existence within the vast timeline of humanity.

Opinions

The author believes that despite aspirations for progress, humanity has been consumed by mundane distractions.
There is a critical view of the necessity and usefulness of jobs, comparing them to outdated fads and practices.
The writer is skeptical about the significance of history education and whether humanity learns from the past.
English is considered a simple language compared to the complexities of interstellar travel, implying that advanced beings should easily comprehend it.
The author expresses disappointment at the lack of extraterrestrial contact, suggesting Earth might be an undesirable destination for space travelers.
There is a sense of detachment and insignificance regarding personal genetic legacy, as the author views genes as merely temporary and not uniquely ours.
The author reflects on the importance of considering the well-being of future generations and acknowledges feeling average in this regard.
The letter ends with a touch of humor and irony, as the author recognizes the tendency to forget about the future, which is embodied by the time travelers.

Open Letter to Time Travelers

Dear Time Travelers,

First, I’d like to apologize for the mess that we left you. I think I speak for many people when I say we really had higher ambitions. Like so many things, life got in the way.

We really wanted to make things better, to do better, to be better. But we were distracted by silly things like earning a living, video games, watching TV, getting our nails done, and countless other acts of vanity and distraction. Those things don’t sound so important right now.

Do people still have jobs in the future? Jobs seem obnoxious, unnecessary and a huge waste of time. Shouldn’t they eventually go away, like unicycles, Instagram models and advertising? If you don’t know what any of these things are, we’ll call that progress.

To be fair, we were born into kind of a mess ourselves. Despite that, I fervently believe that we all are responsible for transcending what we were born into. But, a lot of people do really average at transcending. Which is to say, not very transcendent.

What are the people of the future bad at? As a species, are we just doomed to be mediocre? I know enough math to understand we collectively will always be average. I was just hoping that the average would improve with time.

Oh, quick question, how did global warming, nuclear weapons and artificial intelligence turn out? Since you’re from the future, I expect you will have covered much of this in your history classes.

Do they still teach history in the future? I could see history not being taught anymore. History classes might die off because so many people don’t learn from it or use it anywhere, like learning to play the recorder, or dividing fractions.

I guess I was assuming that you were a human time traveler. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be speciesist. I will assume that you can fully understand our language. Compared to interstellar travel, English is pretty simple. And, if our puny primate brains can figure it out, I’m sure you’ll have no problems.

If you’re not human, what took you so long? We’ve been looking for extraterrestrial visitors for centuries. Was it true that the rest of the universe was actually avoiding us? We’re not angry, just disappointed.

But we could hardly blame you. I’ve lived my whole life on this planet and there were lots of time I didn’t want to be here. I’d imagine Earth is a pretty unsavory destination for most space travelers. There are no rest stops, the drive-thru food is terrible, and everyone on Earth wants to take a selfie with an extraterrestrial.

I guess I’d need to know how far in the future you’re from. That would help me ask better questions. If you’re from later this century, I’d be curious about how life was for the people I knew. But if you’re from the mid-2100s or later, I’d have to assume that pretty much everyone I know is already dead.

The future of humanity feels a little colder when you realize that it’s completely composed of strangers, of people that you’ll never meet or know. Sure, some might share scraps of DNA with me. But that’s hardly a foundation for a meaningful relationship.

Apart from the vanity of knowing that ever-smaller bits of my DNA are still being replicated, I can’t see much of a difference between the future of humanity with me in or out of the gene pool.

And, those bits of DNA aren’t unique to me. Sure, I might have a unique overall combination now. Or maybe even unique to all of human history. But all of my genes came from my ancestors. So it’s a bit pretentious to slap my name on them and call them *my* genes. They really don’t belong to me. They’re just passing through me on their way to other people, other destinations.

It would be silly to invest personal pride in *my* genes since I had nothing to do with their creation, or choosing them. It’s no different that taking personal pride in who your parents are, or how the Chicago Bulls are doing. Just rank vanity.

I suppose that’s the bedrock measure of a person. How much do they care about people they’ll never meet? I’m feeling pretty average about now.

Oh, I beg your pardon. I’d forgotten all about you, Time Traveler. I guess this is just another great example of how easily we forget about the future.

Well, maybe I’ll see you later?

Improv Cowboy

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