In the year 2085, a scientist named Elias finally perfected a machine that could look 100 years into the future. It didn't just show images; it provided a printed report of the world's status.
Elias was nervous. He typed in the date: March 13, 2185.
The machine hummed, the lights flickered, and a single sheet of paper slid out. It was completely blank.
"A glitch," Elias muttered. He tried again. March 13, 2195. Blank.
He tried March 13, 2100. Blank.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Was the world ending? Was there no one left to record history? He decided to check the very next day: March 14, 2085.
The machine whirred and produced a detailed report. It listed the weather, the stock market, and his own name. He breathed a sigh of relief. The world wasn't ending tomorrow.
Then, he noticed a tiny footnote at the bottom of the page:
"Note: System sensors indicate that the 'Future Vision' lens was permanently smudged with ink at 11:59 PM tonight. Please clean the lens to resume viewing."
Elias looked at his hands. They were covered in ink from the very printer he was using. In his panic to see the end of the world, he had been the one to "blind" the future.
The Moral
We spend so much time worrying about a "blank" future that we often create the very mess we are afraid of