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The Discovery of the Future: a Discourse Delivered to the Royal Institution on Jmayn Acucoaurnyt | R2e4gis,T E1r |9 H0elp2 Sign In The Discovery of the Future: A Discourse Delivered to the Royal Institution on JMayn Acucoaurnyt | R2e4gis,t e1r |9 H0elp2 Sign In My Dashboard Get Published Home Books Search Support About Get Published Us Registration Most Popular New Releases Top Picks Kid 25's eBook Finder... SEARCH T H E D I S C O V E R Y O F T H E F U T U R E Article Id: WHEBN0037026607 Reproduction Date: Title: The Discovery of the Future Author: World Heritage Encyclopedia Language: English The Sea Lady, H. G. Wells, H. G. Wells bibliography, Mind at the End of Its Tether, A Subject: Story of the Stone Age Collection: 1902 Books, Books by H. G. Wells, Contemporary Philosophical Literature, Futurology Publisher: World Heritage Encyclopedia Publication Date: Flag as Inappropriate Email this Article THE DISCOVERY OF THE FUTURE The Discovery of the Future is a 1902 philosophical lecture by H. G. Wells that argues for the The Discovery of the Future knowability of the future. It was originally delivered to the Royal Institution on January 24, 1902. Before Author H. G. Wells appearing in book form, it was published by Richard Gregory in Nature on February 6, 1902,[1] and was [2] The Discovery of the Future: A also published as part of the Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution. Discourse Delivered to the Original title Royal Institution on January 24, 1902 SYNOPSIS Country United Kingdom Wells begins by distinguishing between "two divergent types of mind," one that judges and attaches importance principally to what has happened in the past and one that judges and attaches importance Language English principally to what will happen in the future. To the former he attributes the adjectives "legal or Subject Future submissive," "passive," and "oriental," and to the latter the adjectives "legislative, creative, organizing, or Genre Philosophical literature masterful," and "active," calling it "a more modern and much less abundant type of mind."[3] Publisher T. Fisher Unwin Observing that these two minds reach "divergent and incompatible consequences" in the spheres of Publication date 1902 morality and public affairs, Wells analyzes the reasons for which the past-oriented mind predominates and Pages 95 asserts that this is principally due to the evidently greater knowability of the personal past as compared to the future. But he argues that the inference from this attitude that the future is essentially unknowable ISBN N/A does not square with "modern science, that is to say the relentless systematic criticism of phenomena."[4] Preceded by Anticipations Not only has science made us knowledgeable about a distant, impersonal past, it also regards the ability Followed by The Sea Lady successfully to predict to be a criterion of validity. Though the unpredictability of human behavior complicates the problem, the fact that "as individuals increase in number they begin to average out" means that "an inductive knowledge of a great number of things in the future is becoming a human possibility."[5] Confessing himself to be among "those who believe entirely in the forces behind the individual" rather than in individuals themselves as determining causes, Wells argues that there is "no reason why we should not aspire to, and discover and use, safe and servicable, generalizations upon countless issues in the human destiny."[6] But personal prophecy and fortune-telling will never be possible; "the knowledge of the future we may hope to gain will be general and not individual."[7] Wells devotes the last part of his text to speculations about "the question what is to come after man," considering it "the most persistently fascinating and the most insoluble question in the whole world."[8] He concludes with a statement of personal faith "in the coherency and purpose in the world and in the greatness of human destiny."[9] BACKGROUND Wells's lecture followed on the heels of the great success of his recent book, Anticipations (1901), based on a series of articles commissioned in 1900 by W.L. Courtney for the Fortnightly Review, but the original invitation to lecture to the Royal Institution had come in 1899.[10] According to Graham Wallas, Wells's delivery of his lecture was too rapid, but it was well received and contributed to the rapid integration of the 35- year-old Wells into the literary and intellectual elite of London in 1902.[11] Works by H. G. Wells Anticipations | Certain Personal Matters | Crux Ansata | The Discovery of the Future | An Englishman Looks at the World (U.S. title: Social Forces in England and America) | Experiment in Autobiography | The Fate of Man | First and Last Things | Floor Games | The Future in America: A Search After Realities | God the Invisible King | In the Fourth Year | Little Wars | Mankind in the Making | Mind at the End of Its Tether | Nonfiction The New America: The New World | The New World Order | New Worlds for Old | The Open Conspiracy | The Outline of History | Russia in the Shadows | The Science of Life | A Short History of the World | The Story of a Great Schoolmaster | This Misery of Boots | Travels of a Republican Radical in Search of Hot Water | War and the Future (North America: Italy, France and Britain at War) | The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind | World Brain | A Year of Prophesying All Aboard for Ararat | Ann Veronica | The Autocracy of Mr. Parham | Bealby | Boon | Brynhild | The Bulpington of Blup | Christina Alberta's Father | The Croquet Player | The Dream | The First Men in the Moon | The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth | The History of Mr Polly | The Holy Terror | In the Days of the Comet | The Invisible Man | The Island of Dr Moreau | Joan and Peter | Kipps | Love and Mr Lewisham | Marriage | Meanwhile | Novels Men Like Gods | A Modern Utopia | Mr. Blettsworthy on Rampole Island | Mr. Britling Sees It Through | The New Machiavelli | The Passionate Friends | The Research Magnificent | The Sea Lady | The Secret Places of the Heart | The Shape of Things to Come | The Sleeper Awakes | The Soul of a Bishop | Star-Begotten | The Time Machine | Tono-Bungay | The Undying Fire | The War in the Air | The War of the Worlds | The Wheels of Chance | The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman | The Wonderful Visit | The World of William Clissold | The World Set Free The Country of the Blind and Other Stories | The Plattner Story and Others | Select Conversations with an Uncle | Collections The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents | Tales of Space and Time | Twelve Stories and a Dream "Æpyornis Island" | "The Argonauts of the Air" | "The Beautiful Suit" | "The Chronic Argonauts" | "The Cone" | "The Country of the Blind" | "The Crystal Egg" | "A Deal in Ostriches" | "The Diamond Maker" | "A Dream of Armageddon" | "The Empire of the Ants" | "The Land Ironclads" | Short "Mr. Ledbetter's Vacation" | stories "The Lord of the Dynamos" | "The Man Who Could Work Miracles" | "The New Accelerator" | "The Pearl of Love" | "The Queer Story of Brownlow's Newspaper" | "The Red Room" | "The Star" | "The Stolen Body" | "A Story of the Days to Come" | "A Story of the Stone Age" | "Triumphs of a Taxidermist" | "The Truth About Pyecraft" | "A Vision of Judgment" Things to Come | Screenplays The Man Who Could Work Miracles | The New Faust This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002. Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non- profit organization. CATEGORIES PHILOSOPHY ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE Logic, Epistemology, Ethics, Metaphysics, Aesthetics READ MORE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE John Quincy Adams, Puerto Rico, World War II, Global warming, United States Capitol READ MORE THE TIME MACHINE ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE H. G. Wells, Doctor Who, Steampunk, New York City, Futurama READ MORE SUGGESTIONS THE SEA LADY ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE H. G. Wells, Fantasy, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, Methuen Publishing READ MORE MIND AT THE END OF ITS TETHER ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man READ MORE A STORY OF THE STONE AGE ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE H. G. Wells, Stone Age, The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon READ MORE War Propaganda by Notable Artists It takes more than military might, a keen strategy, and an arsenal of weapons to lead a country to victory during wartime. The psyche also plays a vital role in boosting the morale of soldiers and civilians during wartime. Copyright © 2020 World Library Foundation. All rights reserved. eBooks from World Library are sponsored by the World Library Foundation, a 501c(4) Member's Support Non-Profit Organization, and is NOT affiliated with any governmental agency or department. It was originally delivered to the Royal Institution on January 24, 1902.
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