Why in the future-Most Abstract questions answered!

[:]

For example: Why is there still drinking and smoking in the year 3000 when people are getting sick from them and some people want them off the market now?

Answer: Well, scientists have made a recipe for both cigaretes and beer that makes them only slightly bad for you. However they still arent recommended for children under 14 years as they can cause vomiting-see bender should not be allowed on tv..

[#1 :]

I debated whether to put this in General or in Weird Scenes, but I went with Weird Scenes in the end.

As for your question... considering that, in the future, you can get crack out of vending machines, I doubt anyone really cares about how unhealthy cigarettes and booze are. Especially since you have to keep the population in check.

[#2 :]

I think the main reason is that Matt Groening wanted Futurama to be somewhere inbetween a utopian future and a dystopian future, so kinda like it is now just in the future.

[#3 :]

The thing i like about futurama is that the writers try to fit so much realistic material in when, being the future, could be totally crazy and everywhere.

[#4 :]

believe it or not, alcohol is good for you in moderation. Besides, people have been drinking for thousands of years, only one culture actually bans it - and if you've ever been to places like Morocco you'll see how effective that ban really is. By that I mean: not very.

Really, we've been drinking for almost 10,000 years. I doubt they'll ban it in the next 1000. Not permanently anyway.   

[#5 :]

Do not still drink water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thy frequent infirmities.

~ 1 Timothy, 5:23

[#6 :]

Why, in the future, are scammers way more successful than they are now when they don't seem to have changed their methods?

[#7 :]

 

Originally posted by Archonix:
believe it or not, alcohol is good for you in moderation. Besides, people have been drinking for thousands of years, only one culture actually bans it - and if you've ever been to places like Morocco you'll see how effective that ban really is. By that I mean: not very.

Really, we've been drinking for almost 10,000 years. I doubt they'll ban it in the next 1000. Not permanently anyway.   

I think it used to be banned in Afghanistan when those religious nutjobs were in charge. Key words there being "used to".
 

[#8 :]

   

Originally posted by hobbitboy:
Why, in the future, are scammers way more successful than they are now when they don't seem to have changed their methods?
     

Since the era we live in now is the "stupid ages", maybe everybody learn how to stop dealing with scammers in like 2300. Then, the scammers in BBS learned the old ways of scamming and tricked everybody all over again!

   

[#9 :]

That actually makes a scary amount of sense.

[#10 :]

Indeed it does. I've got one, why in the future do we have a space probe acting as God's duplicate, but no religions dedicated to duplicates of God? Despite the fact that at least one known being,(Bender) has met it, and several monks very likely saw it through their telescope, most likely recognizing it?

[#11 :]

Well in the year 3000 i would think that there would be many more religions than we have now (eg. oprahism, robotology) so christianity weighed against thousands of new/alien religions would not have a very big impact on the world/s

[#12 :]

 

Originally posted by Archonix:
believe it or not, alcohol is good for you in moderation. Besides, people have been drinking for thousands of years, only one culture actually bans it - and if you've ever been to places like Morocco you'll see how effective that ban really is. By that I mean: not very.

Really, we've been drinking for almost 10,000 years. I doubt they'll ban it in the next 1000. Not permanently anyway.   

I suppose I should have aimed this question mainly at smoking. I live in Australia, everywhere its just like "stop smoking or you could catch this disease, endanger others, blah blah" its around so much now that i think people have lost the message. The boxes of cigarete packages are really graphical as well its really gross. Not that I smoke..

[#13 :]

 

Originally posted by Anarchy_Balsac:
Indeed it does. I've got one, why in the future do we have a space probe acting as God's duplicate, but no religions dedicated to duplicates of God? Despite the fact that at least one known being,(Bender) has met it, and several monks very likely saw it through their telescope, most likely recognizing it?

For most people, seeing is believing. Since this God duplicate is so far away that the monks have been looking for this God for hundreds of years, people can't prove that it exsist.

Maybe that's why at Leela's wedding in BBS the priest says "...before one or many Gods"

[#14 :]

He says that because he's a priest of the first amalgamated church, which seems to be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hindu and Buddism combined.

[#15 :]

If Jesus returned in two-thousand-whatever-it-was, you know when all video tapes were destroyed, then Christianity has run it's cycle.

Space Probe/God pretty much said he doesn't do much anymore one way or another. Since humans are mainly religious to get something good or avoid something bad they wouldn't see much point in worshiping something that has no benefit. But it may take a few millenia for humans to catch on it isn't working.

[#16 :]

And agnosticism. Specifically agnostic thiesm.

[#17 :]

I actually think being agnostic could have its benifits, you would be more likely to live life to the full.

[#18 :]

 

Originally posted by x.Bianca.x:
I actually think being agnostic could have its benifits, you would be more likely to live life to the full.

I don't know about that...

[#19 :]

Well, if you were agnostic youd believe there is no afterlife, therefore, making the most of this one.

[#20 :]

Christianity saw it's hey-day during the Dark Ages. There wasn't anything to look forward to in their lives (aside from disease, famine, and extreme poverty), so they emphasized the importance of living a "good" life on Earth in hopes of reaching Heaven when they died. The whole idea is absurd to me, especially in this day and age. I actually sway toward the Buddhist ideology. Buddhism stresses the importance of living a good life and working towards enlightenment, which basically means realizing that everything around you is fake and material and only true happiness can come from within you.

I also love Agnostics because they live for themselves, hold their own beliefs, and don't live by an organized religion's imposed rules. It is complete freedom, aside from being spiritually enlightened.

But I think I have gone too far off-topic. Sorry!

[#21 :]

I believe every religion is the same and were all worshiping the same god(s). Its hard to expain it more than that.

[#22 :]

 

Originally posted by CalculonsTalent:
Christianity saw it's hey-day during the Dark Ages. There wasn't anything to look forward to in their lives (aside from disease, famine, and extreme poverty), so they emphasized the importance of living a "good" life on Earth in hopes of reaching Heaven when they died. The whole idea is absurd to me, especially in this day and age. I actually sway toward the Buddhist ideology. Buddhism stresses the importance of living a good life and working towards enlightenment, which basically means realizing that everything around you is fake and material and only true happiness can come from within you.

I also love Agnostics because they live for themselves, hold their own beliefs, and don't live by an organized religion's imposed rules. It is complete freedom, aside from being spiritually enlightened.

But I think I have gone too far off-topic. Sorry!

Plus.  You're wrong.  I mean... there's really no way to put it... you're just... pretty much wrong.  I'll explain it to you later if you really want to get into an argument, but the fact of the matter is that your whole perspective is illogical and incorrect, so much so in fact, that I felt the insistent need to point that fact out to you.

[#23 :]

Are you saying that Calculon's interpretations are wrong or his beliefs?

[#24 :]

I actually did a lot of work on different religions at school, and agnostics can totally vary from 'dont believe theres a god and afterlife' to 'there could be a god and afterlife' some agnostics are actually part religious.

Being agnostic is more of a belief than a religion.

[#25 :]

Being agnostic means you're not sure.  Being an athiest means you believe there isn't anything spiritual.

However, I don't see why anybody has any problems with imposed restrictions set out by a religion.  Your daily lives are a set of imposed restriction every moment that you exist.  Or do you honestly believe you can do whatever you want?  You would only think you believe that anyways, because you can't actually do what you want because physics has deemed it impossible for you to have free will in the first place.

[#26 :]

The laws of physics have nothing to do with free will as such.

And agnosticism can be interpreted as meaning one feels that there is no way to know with any degree of certainty whether there is a god or an afterlife, etc. Reserving judgment.

[#27 :]

Let's not get into a religious argument here, guys.
Besides, you're all wrong, Paganism is the right religion.
JUST JOKING! My spiritual choice is no more and no less valid than anyone else's, as long as I live my life in peace and balance with everyone else.
Anyways, I didn't mean to get into a religious argument.
"an it harms none, do what thou will"

[#28 :]

Why, in the future,...
do we only ever see heads in jars that are approximately 1000 years old? Isn't anyone from the third millenium famous or important enough to warrant having their head preserved?

also

Why, in the future,...
aren't there any futuristic sports or entertainments?

[Edited to add...]
And another one...

Why, in the future,...
don't heads is jars use headless robot bodies to move themselves around (c.f. A Head in the Polls)?

[#29 :]

 

Originally posted by hobbitboy:
Why, in the future,...
aren't there any futuristic sports or entertainments?

There is sports & entertainment in the future.  Ape fights, Ultimate Robot Fighting, Blernsball for sports.  Logging on to the internet is now a contact sport.  Also, there's "All My Circuits" for entertainment.

If your question is, why isn't there anything NEW & DIFFERENT in the way of sports or entertainment, it's probably because the series needs to be rooted in 21st century normalcy for an audience to relate to it.  If the writers created new sports & entertainment that don't currently exist & are really far out, they run the risk of alienating the audience. 

[#30 :]

 

Why, in the future,...
aren't there any futuristic sports or entertainments?

Also Deathball.

And, of course, the scintillating allure of the sublime tour de force that is "Everybody Loves Hypnotoad".

[#31 :]

 

Originally posted by hobbitboy:
Why, in the future,...
aren't there any futuristic sports or entertainments?

Responded to by seattlejohn01:
There is sports & entertainment in the future.  Ape fights, Ultimate Robot Fighting, Blernsball for sports.  Logging on to the internet is now a contact sport.  Also, there's "All My Circuits" for entertainment.

If your question is, why isn't there anything NEW & DIFFERENT in the way of sports or entertainment

Yes, that is what I meant by 'futuristic'.

Substituting robots for humans in wrestling matches and soap operas didn't seem like much  of a change in 1000 years.

it's probably because the series needs to be rooted in 21st century normalcy for an audience to relate to it.  If the writers created new sports & entertainment that don't currently exist & are really far out, they run the risk of alienating the audience. 

Yes, but what's the in-show reason? What answer might Leela or Hermes or the Professor give if Fry asked the same question?

[#32 :]

 

Originally posted by hobbitboy:

Yes, but what's the in-show reason? What answer might Leela or Hermes or the Professor give if Fry asked the same question?

Fry: Why does life in the thirty-first century contain so many parallels and similarities to life in the twenty-first century?

Leela: Parallels? Nonsense, it's impossible for anything to be parallel. If it were, there'd be a distinct probability that your eyes wouldn't keep curving down while I'm talking to you. Which there doesn't appear to be. Now shut up and load the packages.

Hermes: Fashionable Caftan of Manhattan! Things being similar? Thing have to go through the proper papers before becoming different, mon. Society can't just tango up to the desk and change its name to 'Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock'! Now where's the confirmations for those packages you loaded?

Professor: What!? Because change is evil! Young people just don't realise the dangers! But the government thinks they do, those lousy conservatives... They think they can halt my research to invent a creature capable of exterminating the Thals... But they'll learn... When my superior races dominates all! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

[#33 :]

HAHA! Classic Xanfor! 

[#34 :]

 

Originally posted by Xanfor:
 Fry: Why does life in the thirty-first century contain so many parallels and similarities to life in the twenty-first century?

<The room goes quiet as everyone looks intently at Fry>

Professor: Fry, You haven't gone back to eating things from truck-stop vending machines again, have you?
Amy: Ewwww... puke-a-tronic!

[#35 :]

   

Originally posted by Xanfor:
They think they can halt my research to invent a creature capable of exterminating the Thals... But they'll learn... When my superior races dominates all! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

Pure class, I wonder what the Professor would do with the theoretical virus vial.

[#36 :]

 

Originally posted by ShepherdofShark:
   
Pure class, I wonder what the Professor would do with the theoretical virus vial.

[#37 :]

Professor: Whaa? Yes, I would do it!

I love this picture - makes me want to watch "Genesis" yet again. And that can never be a bad thing.