Jacques Revel, the esteemed French historian and former president of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, reflects on the role of history in contemporary society. He suggests that history should not only serve as a record of past events but also as a tool to help society emerge from the confinement of the present moment. Revel argues that people today have lost the ability to think about the long-term future due to a prevailing obsession with the current state of affairs, where societal expectations concerning what lies ahead have been severely diminished.

He reminisces about a time in the 1960s and 1970s when futurists envisioned long-term developments stretching into the far future, including the twenty-first century, offering hopes and aspirations. However, Revel points out that such forward-thinking has all but disappeared in today’s discourse. Instead, it is increasingly common for predictions to paint a grim picture, focusing on catastrophic issues like resource depletion and environmental crises, thus fostering a sense of pessimism in current outlooks toward the future.

Revel emphasizes the necessity for society to confront its historical ghosts and acknowledge past traumas as a means of generating a more constructive dialogue about the future. By remembering historical events, he believes individuals and societies can free themselves from the constraints of an overly present-focused mentality, thereby empowering a more hopeful and forward-thinking perspective on future challenges.