Go to the future

Look! You can see humanity from a bird's perspective. — Yuval Noah Harari My greatest goodwill toward the future is the hope that, amid countless misunderstandings, it will still be filled with surprises. — Jia Xingjia Everyone lives for themselves, and everyone lives for all of humanity. — Chen Qiufan We refuse to trade the risk of death from boredom for a world free from hunger. — Guy Debord Unimaginable technological developments will not lead to a true cultural rebirth or a new enlightenment. On the contrary, the true cause of national decline today lies in humanity's inability to address social, moral, and spiritual crises. — Tesla No matter the situation, you still have the autonomy to make your own choices. You don't know where these choices will lead, but you can make them; you are free. — Yu Wei This time, with the theme of "The Future," we approach it from within. It's not a prophecy from outer space, as if using exciting, dazzling, fireworks-like phrases could create a sci-fi effect and automatically illuminate the path ahead. Rather, before imagining the future, we must first break down our imaginations of the future.
The future is an illusion. We shouldn't abandon it because of widespread pessimism, nor should we be overly optimistic just because our generation is enjoying a period of prosperity. The reality is that everyone is equally lost. Losing track of the future can, in a sense, be a relief. So, let's delve even deeper into the past. Let's reflect on what we should do now.
We organize seaside lectures, embrace eclectic styles, publish experimental novels, and seek out new writers. Capturing the uncertain, the unfinished, the newly emerging has always been Dandu's most captivating task. It's difficult and fleeting, trivial yet vast. It could lead in many directions, not just the future. Amidst these ambiguous, nonlinear advances and practices, new values ​​may not necessarily emerge, but certain principles will prove irrevocable. They will transcend time and space, preserved by literature, ethics, and human emotions.
【Editor's Recommendation】
1. Exploring a new way to "reach the future": entering it from within, understanding it from history, and seeing it from the present—reaching the future isn't some grand, uncontrollable undertaking; in fact, it begins with each individual. In this series of "Single Readings," these questions touch upon human free choice, women's living space, human reproduction, the evolution of language, post-totalitarian politics, and society in the new technological age. The future is rich and complex, requiring questioning and vigilance. It's not a prophecy from outer space that automatically illuminates our path. Before imagining the future, we must first break down our own assumptions about it.
2. "The Future Belongs to Them," a collection of keynote speeches. The living conditions and possibilities of contemporary women are also the possibilities for the future development of all humanity. This collection, "Single Reading," features speeches by Yu Wei, Lu Ye, Guo Shuang, Peng Ke, and Ma Lilingshan at the Fourth One-Way Street Bookstore Literary Festival. Behind their diverse ages, professions, and experiences, modern women demonstrate equally respectable wisdom and courage in facing both external and internal challenges. Women's equality has exploded with even greater vitality since the second decade of the 21st century. The shocks and challenges it brings are questioning the civilization of society as a whole and testing the future direction of humanity.
3. Xu Zhiyuan in conversation with Yuval Noah Harari: "I don't predict the future, I just want to empower people to discuss humanity's future." With the popularity of his books "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind," "Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow," and "A Brief History of Today," Yuval Noah Harari has achieved phenomenal global acclaim. "Single Reading" presents its first interview with this historian, considered a prophet of humanity, to explore how his approach to thinking and expressing the world resonates with this era of information overload and unrest. In the interview, he analyzes the unique environment and culture of the Middle East, discusses the impact of his sexual orientation on self-understanding, his multidisciplinary research approach, and his effective work and writing methods, offering a warning about the crises and challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. This author, who has repeatedly stated that he "does not predict the future," believes that his true purpose is to offer a perspective that "empowers people to participate in the discussion about humanity's future."
4. Debuting science fiction writer Chen Qiufan's latest masterpiece "We Are Happy at This Moment," Jia Xingjia writes to explore "The Destination of Language"—Chen Qiufan's brilliant science fiction play debuts in this issue of "Single Reading." It uses highly charged stories and language to push reproductive ethics and human reproduction into a more complex situation that is difficult to control. Thinking about the future of language is almost every writer's daily work. Author Jia Xingjia compares and considers the past, present, and near future, and asks: Will the future be "still full of surprises amidst countless misunderstandings," or will "we become increasingly silent with increasing noise, becoming more indifferent to the truth and unable to communicate with each other"?
5. Introducing the poetry of poet Sun Wenbo for the first time—"All poetry is about the future," says poet Sun Wenbo. Sun Wenbo has accompanied the rise and fall of Chinese poetry, and his poetry is imbued with power, a strength born from his self-aware examination of the present and his profound interrogation of life. Living in secluded Dongbei Village in Shenzhen, he remains detached from the world. In an era where voices are often difficult to voice, Sun Wenbo continues to speak out as a poet.
6. One-Way Space and Ideal Country continue to work together to create beloved books for intellectual young people and a source of global youth thought. Slavic cultural writer Berlin, British social observer Wang Bang, novelists Zhao Song and Kuai Lehao ​​will continue to publish readable and thoughtful novels, essays and book reviews in this series of "Single Reading", sharing their global observations and personal experiences.

2019-02-01

台海出版社

Single Reading

416

9787516822180