Well, that used to be untrue — for a long time, the future was a lot like the past on human lifetime scales. But now we have technical and consequently cultural

Well, that used to be untrue — for a long time, the future was a lot like the past on human lifetime scales. But now we have technical and consequently cultural and even environmental changes that make it likely the future will be unlike the past, so now it is true. But maybe someday that will change and future will be like the past again.