H.G. WELLS: AN INCREDIBLE VISIONARY
In
the annals of literature it is hard to imagine any one particular
writer any more ahead of the curve than was H. G. Wells. His visions of
the future of mankind were as fascinating as they were appalling. As
mankind was to progress in the decades after H.G. Wells classic science fiction novel
“War of the Worlds” we can only recall in sheer amazement how his
educated imagination shaped new frontiers for emerging generations
across the world. The work of this magnificent mind has fueled much in
speculation as well as being used by the powers that be for experimental
sociological impact.
Not to be ignored
The darkness and devastation envisioned by the
fictional portrayal of a perilous future should even more today be
heeded by the public as well as the megalomaniac power brokers who have
the arrogance to influence the lives of billions on this planet. Wells
was not some unschooled and frivolous story teller such as the likes of
Jules Verne, who lacked a realistic scientific aspect to his comical
tales of a reality yet to be. H. G. Wells had the aptitude of science to
enhance and further render his projections of future conflicts to a
much more believable if not alarming level.
Practical application
It took science and, unfortunately the military, decades if not a century to catch up to any unrealistic arrival at the inventions
and weapons of the future that were of extraterrestrial origin in “War
of the Worlds”. H.G.Wells foresaw the poison gases in 1897 that would be
used in the trench warfare of World War I Europe. He foresaw the
tactical advantage of mechanized terrain vehicles that could walk and
have the advantage of an over the horizon view of their enemies as they
quickly covered distances unfettered by wheel driven or horse drawn
vehicles. Only today, is the military now perfecting pack animal types
of machines and armored land rovers that come close to this capability.
Horrific weapons
H.G. Wells mention of “Death Rays” used by the
Martians were particularly frightening and served to fuel the scientific
applications that would eventually originate lasers and particle beams
as offensive weapons and research
tools. Often science is not necessarily the source of invention, but it
is the imagination of the science fiction writer who allows practical
application of such ideas to be realized. Such was the case of many of
H.G. Wells descriptions of future scenarios that have led us to benefit
from his unconventional imaginings to this very day. Wells had an
uncanny ability to anticipate the wonders of science in a world yet to
come as well as the insight of nightmares that would come to haunt
mankind in his perversions of creative wonder. It seems that the vsions
of H. G. Wells were not lost upon Nicola Tesla. It has been said that
Tesla had invented a death ray with a ten thousand mile range sometime
within the era of World War II, but it was supposedly ignored by the US
military.
Potential for malpractice
In his novel, “The Island of Doctor Moreau” Wells
once again anticipates the horrid unethical nature of medical
experimentation gone wrong as an obsessed doctor tries to merge man and
animal as one creature. H.G. Wells foresaw the insupportable dilemma of
allowing inhumane experimentation to exist in a civilized society and
what the terrible repercussions could be as a result. Not until the
release of such books as the “Confessions of a Medical Heretic” by
Robert Mendelsohn in the early 1970’s did whistle blowers begin
emerging. Yet, the work of H.G. Wells gave us a glimpse of such dark
possibilities decades before such revelations would ever come to shock
an uniformed public. Man’s improprieties and inhumanity to himself if
only in science fictional form were showcased by H. G. Wells as he
addressed these less than palatable issues in story form. It is likely
his fiction was really a dissertation of the unrestricted ruthlessness
of science should ethics and morality not be enforced in order to
prevent it from happening.
Repetition of atrocity
It is like that in the his brilliant work, “Time
Machine” that Wells is actually lecturing us once again on the pitfalls
of repeating the past over and over again in the realm of war as the weapons of mass destruction simply continue
to become more and more devastating. His message that by ignoring the
great works of the literary realm that future generations could become
sheep for the slaughter when no longer armed by the wisdom of knowledge.
H. G. Wells hero goes back to the future after retrieving the great
writings of his time and of his past so as to rescue the minds of a
distant world yet to be so that civilization could once again rebuild
itself.
Still relevant
Indeed the
brilliance of H. G. Wells in anticipating the potential dark
eventualities based upon refusal of humankind to acknowledge the lessons
of the past rings true to this
very day. We would be well served to take a very sobering review of his
themes and not so flattering visions for mankind in the not so distant
future and wonder if the scenarios he created on the pages of his novels
are perhaps not so inescapable after all if we apply
morality and self-control. In view of the current global sociopolitical
configuration that now plagues humanity, would it not be advisable for
us to take a good long look at where we are headed, put aside the
political correctness, and begin a spiritual acknowledgement of how we
are to escape the pitfalls and fascism of the past?
The creator
For those who have dismissed science fiction as
irrelevant fantasy, or the province of wild speculation, I suggest that
you take a very sobering appraisal of just how the innovations of one H.
G. Wells came to fruition within a relatively short period of time. We
are just now catching up to the wonder of many of his visions as well as
nightmares should mankind refuse to heed the lessons of history as it
so often does. In “War of the Worlds” H. G. Wells calls upon the miracle
of God’s creation of the smallest forms of life (Germs) for decimating
an enemy that was quickly poised to exterminate humanity. In our world
of godless liberal advocacy who belittle all who acknowledge a
benevolent God who created our world, it is quite refreshing to note
that great minds such as H. G. Wells had the humility to allow for
creationism as the being the ultimate statement of truth and unification
of science and reality.
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