kestrel

kestrel
2019-05-25 22:50:07 (UTC)

Prompt 025: Dreams of the Future

25. You've inherited the ability to dream about the future. How will you use this new gift? Do you think it'll change your actions? Why or why not?
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Hmm. Another prompt focusing on supernatural powers. Well, when it comes to prompts like these then it's go big or go home, I always say.

So, of course I would use this ability, likely as much as possible. One tricky thing about dreams though: they're always steeped in metaphor, double-meaning, and highly-subjective. For example, I'd just finished reading the graphic novel -The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 3: Century-. To kick off the fantastic tale, League member Dr. Carnacki has dreams and visions of the future but - though I suppose it helps with the development of the plot - there's not enough clarity for the League to determine their next move to prevent the impending apocalypse they're warned about in Carnacki's visions. At the very least, I'd be doubling-down on my study of dream interpretation, psychology, and even poetry in order to best take advantage of such powers.

Imagine being a renowned prophet. What is it about Nostradamus, for example, that generated/generates such a mythical aura and legacy? He was able to record his visions of the future for posterity. But wasn't this really just a coincidence? What if a typical shlub, just an average joe, had the same opportunity to record their meandering predictions? People do as much on YouTube and Twitter these days.

Maybe that's what I would do. I would post YouTube videos of me describing my visions, and then interpreting them within the context of current events. I'd cross-reference my own research with comments from viewers and a bevy of psychologists. We could serve as "ombudsman to the world," providing no-cost insight to organizations such as the United Nations to help guide policy that provides for the betterment of not just wealthy humans, but for the planet itself.

I would work to be as transparent as possible in my predictive dealings with anyone, ensuring that I was not acting on behalf of special interests. I would do everything in my power to ensure that I was only a conduit of these visions of the future, instead of being some sort of benefactor who is paid off by some ambitious cabal, issuing predictions on their behalf gradually molding the future into the desired outcomes of petty shareholders or myopic governments.

On another note, the prompt says I've "inherited" this ability. So that must mean it can be provided to future generations in some way, via me. If it was a genetic or bloodline-related ability, then of course I'd end up wanting to sire children - perhaps several - in order to ensure the ability might somehow persist after I'm no longer alive. If it's through some supernatural or unconventional method, then I would do my best to make sure there is at least one competent successor to the mantle of "future dreamer."




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