The future is wild.

 

Recently I saw an educational film “The future is wild”. The picture has made strong impression. “The future is wild” concerns to the phenomenon that refers to «middle culture» (cultural educational area of art).

Founders of film show to us, what (in their opinion) the fauna will accept shape through 5, 100 and 200 million years on the Earth. Quality of special effects same, as in series of films “Walks with dinosaurs” and “Walks with beasts”. Indelible impression makes huge jellyfish colonies, predatory mollusks floating in waters.

There are nine-ton overland «mega squid» (like an elephant), fishes-birds, predatory bugs, super huge (120 tons) turtles …

But at all delight, should tell, that the picture gives more information not about the future forms of a life, but about the present of modern culture. In particular, that occurs in heads of the scholars.

 First of all, is evident full absence of teleology. My consciousness was formed during Modernism epoch. And the mainest attribute of a modernism - a cult of Progress, constant and steady movement to the best. The cult of Progress, in turn, is transformed (and a little bit deformed)  idea of Christianity.

Proceeding from the given idea, the matter goes on a way of constant complication: inorganic chemistry, organic molecules. Then a life: monocelled, invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, reptiles. Animals, primates, the person. This outlook is illustrated as well as possible with a phylogenetic tree of fauna and “a spiral of time”, with more and more accelerated rate of development.

Further steps of a human society: primitive-communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist. After capitalism there comes socialism (as the first phase of communism). Or (if do not love communists) - a liberal, «open» society (“liberte, egalite, fraternite”). On liberalism the civilization also has stumbled.

Last decades the stream of fundamental discoveries has sharply become scanty. And not because to open there was nothing, more likely - there is nobody. Creative people, certainly, are available - but they not so go in a science, preferring economic, political, social, cultural business. In a science the level of routine and dogmatism raises.

And it, by the way, occurs not for the first time in human history. The long centuries previous to the Modernism, opening were not made almost, and laws of the nature, in general, did not cause interest. It seems that now we come back to something similar.

The given idea, probably, will seem paradoxical, in fact last decades we became witnesses of enormous jerk, especially in information sphere. But, at first sight. For in a basis of information revolution fundamental opening 19 - first half of 20 centuries lay. And sense of most this revolution not in opening new, and in ordering already existing. It is necessary, certainly also.

But, when opening cease to be made, also the source having development of technologies in due course becomes scanty. And the most important - in economic revolution new resources are not involved. Earlier wood was replaced with peat and coal, them is oil and gas, later - energy of atom.

Now (since times of the Roman club) speak about limitation of resources and that “for all will not suffice”. Certainly, not the rich countries and rich classes should limit the “various requirements” - they are not ready to this. Should be reduced poor - and not only on needs, but also for own number. Whenever possible considerably.

All this also refers to the Postmodern – “after the Modern”. And in culture there is an eclectic game by fragments of the past.

And here however strange all this was reflected in the concept of film “The future is wild”. From it the man (“a final of creation”) is removed. Well all right, mankind was lost, has died out. But what are animals? They should be developing!

In fact even with allocation of the main branch conducting to the humanity, other groups did not stand on a place (as philosophers wrongly assert sometimes). Insects (and their most promoted representative ants) have appeared after fishes. Already after mammals other branch of reptiles turned into birds. After extinction of dinosaurs octopuses and squids have appeared (rather perfect essences). During same time there were modern advanced sharks with their advanced brain, and a little bit earlier - the bony fishes (characteristic complex group behavior). And so on.

         What authors of film? Of course, they like octopuses, squids and arthropods (whom are promising a gain of the sea and a land and perfection of the maximum nervous activity). But somehow not so be evident fruits of last. Well, spiders in mountains began to conduct a public way of life and create huge networks (but they are farther than modern public insects in development have not gone). Well, octopuses on land began to live, hunting groups. And it for two hundred millions years!

         In evolutionistic there are two concepts: aromorphoz and adaptation. The first means the key transformation of a kind deducing it on new level of development (as a rule, higher though there were also return cases).

         All film is constructed by means excellent adaptive reconstruction. And any obvious example aromorphoz. As all this reminds our Postmodern!

 

Alex Fantalov.

 

Poll Gauguin and Vincent Vincent Van Gogh.

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