Human beings know everything about themselves except whence they came, what they should do and whither they will go.  To compensate for this lack of knowledge and wisdom each civilization has established and maintained religious organizations and institutions whose duty it was to search out the truth, record it and teach it to successive generations.

In some civilizations the religious institutions have dominated the secular.  At other times and in other places the secular has maintained its ascendancy over the religious.  In still other cases the religious and the secular forces have maintained an uneasy balance leading to acrimonious bickering and sometimes to civil war.

Central to their discussions is the nature of life.  Is it continuous, as it appears in vegetation and the animal kingdom, or is it discontinuous like the rocks on the mountainside or the grains of sand on the seashore?  Those who live for the moment prefer discontinuity.  Those who observe their natural environment are forced to the conclusion that life today is part of a sequence or progression which relates the life of yesterday to that of tomorrow.

Recorded history, from fossil and geological remains, to the books on library shelves assures us that man has had a past.  Projecting this experience, it seems quite reasonable that barring accident or a purposed intervention, man will have at least some future.  To prepare for that future, using the knowledge and wisdom at our disposal, seems to be a must for any reasoning creature.

Even for the short planetary life-span of the average human, the logic of this position seems inescapable, whether it applies to the next hour, day, year, or century.  In terms of our children and grandchildren it is even more impressive.  Today we find it desirable to live as well as possible.  If there is any future, the same principle should apply to its implementation and utilization.

If the “hereafter” begins tomorrow and if those whose well-being concerns us will probably be “alive” tomorrow, the science and art of the future (futurology) takes its place beside other fields of theory and practice as a must for all responsible members of the human race.

If the conditions presently existing in human society affordment, skills and technical experience necessary to make significant changes, why wait?  Why not proceed forthwith to live a better life?

This dilemma has confronted individuals and sub-groups in various civilizations.  It has been particularly in evidence during periods of decline and social disintegration.  It has led people of both sexes and all ages to uproot themselves from the old social order and reestablish themselves in a social order “nearer to the heart’s desire.”

Such efforts have been described as “intentional communities” to distinguish them from a traditional, currently existing social order which emerged from the past encumbered with vestigial remains and obsolete institutions and practices having little or no relation to the needs and wants of a changing world.