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What will the future be like? come to dominate our energy needs. The next
fifteen years are a pivotal time when these
energy sources need to be developed so they'll
Why do we like to know what tomorrow will be ready before the effects of climate change
bring? Throughout history there has been a become too severe.
kind of obsession to predict the evolution of our
societies. But how successful have the pundits We seem to be on the brink of non-polluting,
been in predicting our way of life for the fol- driverless cars, at least for urban areas. You will
lowing twenty, thirty or forty years? They were soon lust sit in the car by yourself as if in a taxi.
not very accurate. There are many books, films One prediction is that the day will arrive when
and television programmes that describe a we no longer own a car but simply subscribe
fantasy world yet to come. Time travel, alas, to a transport service that provides a vehicle to
remains just that, a fantasy. your door on demand.
Today we already know that technology will It would also seem logical that advances in
soon take over many of our tedious tasks. If software will eventually bring about major
we avoid the evidently ludicrous and simply changes in health care. Each person's genome
extrapolate what already is happening today, could exist on an electronic file leading to person-
what can we say about the future? Software will alized treatments for illness. Will we be able to
evolve so rapidly that you will no longer invest overcome the everyday ills that beset a large
in a new computer, telephone or television, but part of mankind: hunger and disease? Better
simply pay a subscription to be kept up to date fertilizer, seeds and transport will help farmers
with the latest gadget. produce a greater quantity and ci wider variety
of hardier crops boosting nutrition. Increased
Nowadays, from an application on your cell accessibility to vaccines for diarrhoea and pneu-
phone you can pay your tram ticket, do your monia, as well as improved sanitation, will save
shopping, follow the stock market, spy on your children's lives. The number of women who die
children, switch on the burglar alarm at home, in childbirth will decline sharply. Several more
see your friends live on Skype or ... but your diseases will be overcome in the coming years,
phone may be tapped. Unknown persons may including polio. We will soon find the secret to
be watching you - even things you do not wish beating malaria. As we make progress toward
them to know. a vaccine or a cure for HIV, cases will start
going down everywhere around the globe for
"Recently," one of my colleagues remarked, the first time since the disease was discovered
"my wife signed up for some US shops to buy more than thirty years ago.
handbags, shoes, etc. You know how women
are about shopping ... A couple of days ago People will have unprecedented opportunities
she realized that our Internet provider was bloc- to get an education. But if the factors that hold
king many of these sites. All of a sudden, the girls back are not addressed, and if access to
prices appeared in euros instead of US dollars. education isn't equal, then education will be-
Why? If I am a citizen of the world, I should come another cause of inequity.
be free to do whatever I like as long as I pay
for it." Now you are being observed, you are But now we are getting carried away in our
traceable ... what is happening to individual own fantasy world and entering Utopia. The sky
liberty, freedom, private life? is the limit some people would say and perhaps
they are right. However, what happens when
However much some people sneer at renewable our technology is hit by a virus, or a storm cuts
energies, it seems that they are destined to play off the electricity supply for a couple of days?
a major role in our future. Over the coming Will the modern man and woman be able to
years we are sure to see wind farms, photo- cope?
voltaic farms and geothermal energy gradually Mont and John

The views expressed are the responsibility of the authors E-mail: diva.international@ginail.com
and do not necessarily reflect the views of DIVA Tel.: +41 (0) 22 917 43 01
www.divainternational.ch
Editor. Marit Fosse
DIVA is a publication of Graficim Ltd Graphic design: Cyril Cailliez
Friends contributing to this issue:
Mailing address C. de Lavarenne, A. Caire, H. Beywood, J. Fox, I. Marguet,
DIVA International E. A. Varadi, J. Varadi, P. Virot, J.-M. Wissmer
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Palais des Nations Cover: WHIB/RVirot
1211 Geneva 10 Spanish editor: Luis Vaquez

Issn: 1660-9913 Edito