ABSTRACT
Civilisations have been trying to hold the violent manifestations of these fantasies in their lairs, with moderate success. The details which had absorbed us stand revealed in a breathtaking panorama. The daily routine, all routines and patterns, fit seamlessly into a vaster landscape. Possible futures for humankind are many and varied. The inert, radioactive desert is still a possibility, though less likely than it once was. More likely now is a planet whose life-support systems are devastated beyond all hope of repair. The promise of the twenty-first century lies in our ability to learn from the twentieth and collectively to decide to strike out in a new or renewed direction. For us this means giving up the disastrous conceits of the past and embarking on a different journey to explore the heights, as opposed to the depths, of human ability and potential.
