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December 30 2019
film review: Living in the Future's Past / Vision Films - 2018
directed by Susan Kucera
https://www.livinginthefuturespastfilm.com
I've forgotten how I came upon reference to this film. Also I'm
pretty sure I've come across it previously on Kanopy [0] and, seeing
Jeff Bridges' hairy mug prominently featured on the poster, dismissed
it as yet another experiential environmental film with a concerned
celebrity, sad but photogenic critters and an ominous music score
building up to a feel good ending. I don't need to see THAT movie
again. This is not that movie -- well okay, it is but it manages
to transcend the genre, mostly skips the happy ending. And other
than the beginning and end we don't see much of Mr Bridges.
What I liked about this film is that it steps back so you can see
the big picture, connect the dots, see how we're all an unwitting
part in the Global Superorganism [1]. Much of the film features
interviews with subject experts on energy, resources, biology,
evolution, psychology and philosophy. Two people I tend to follow,
Nat Hagens [2] and Ugo Bardi [3], make appearances as did retired
general Wesley Clark. Also Joseph Tainter, author of 'The Collapse
of Complex Societies'. Others new to me that stood out: Timothy
Morton [4] and Leonard Mlodinow [5].
The idea of complex civilizations giving rise to emergent phenomena
isn't actually new but what is is the shear size and rate of growth
of our ours, mostly due to our massive utilization of fossil fuels.
The high energy throughput actually makes some emergent phenomena
visible. Urban areas seen from up high look very much alive as
roadways, airports and shipping lanes pulse with life: food and
resources come in, waste products go out. For me it's reminiscent
of another film from the 1980s, Koyaanisqatsi [6], which put the
urban throb to a Philip Glass score, contrasted with long takes of
nature scenes in with not much happened: easy to guess which bits
the audiences connected with. Unbalanced life? Yes please! Not
the conveyed message Godfrey Reggio's intended but it did illustrate
something important about human psychology: we really like our
dopamine squirts and we'll team together to keep them coming.
American biologist E. O. Wilson actually classifies humans as
eusocial [7] species, like bees and ants. But instead of pheromone
signaling humans use language and culture. Seems we evolved such
that there was an advantage to caring about others, and how they
feel about us. Think group think [8], a great example of this mind
melding trait. The mesmerizing effect of charismatic personas is
another; they literally changes minds.
What we didn't evolve for was caring much about the future.
We're all about the present, the future uncertain, the End always
near but mostly out of mind, replaced by a helpful perception of
immortality, much better for risky endeavors that might pay off big.
Obviously it was a winning strategy for a very long time, but it's
equally obvious that it has become a real hazard to all life on
the planet. Neoliberalism's rise isn't helping but mostly it's
just us, globalism just a symptom of a species making hay while
the fossil sunlight flows.
Living in the Future's Past ends with Mr Bridges' conveyance of
the "hopeful message", a call for individuals to make use of whatever
their mad skills are to leverage our cooperative inclinations to
effect positive change, presumably some sort of hive-level course
correction towards a better future.
Yeah..
Still, it's a worthwhile film for all the stuff between the Bridges.
And if you've got a public library card you can likely stream it
for FREE via Kanopy [0] -- get that dopamine squirt!
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[0] https://www.kanopy.com/product/living-futures-past
[1] http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/Papers/Superorganism.pdf
[2] https://www.postcarbon.org/our-people/nate-hagens/
[3] https://cassandralegacy.blogspot.com/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Morton
[5] https://leonardmlodinow.com/
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusocial#In_humans
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink