Tesla's future visions: From Niagara Falls to modern robotics

Nikola Tesla is widely recognized as an outstanding genius ahead of his time. Contemporary people often believe that he could foresee the future development of science over one hundred or even two hundred years. Do his visions have relevance to the present?

In an article published in "Liberty," Nikola Tesla, then 79 years old, was highlighted as a remarkable inventor whose work played a crucial role in the development of science. The editorial highlighted numerous innovations introduced by the Serbian-American scientist. Bernard Arthur Behrend, a renowned engineer, wrote that without Tesla's achievements, the industry, electric cars, and trains would cease functioning, cities would be plunged into darkness, and mills would come to a standstill. Tesla is often called the "father of radio, television, power transmission, the induction motor, and the robot, and the discoverer of the cosmic ray."

The rivalry between Tesla and Thomas Edison is an extremely important topic. In the dispute regarding alternating current and direct current, Tesla advocated for alternating current, ultimately gaining recognition as his system was implemented in central power plants, including in Niagara Falls.

Tesla was identified as a futurist, often proposing innovative solutions that were initially met with misunderstanding. In an interview, he mentioned that he had to wait 19 years for his idea concerning Niagara Falls to be realized and 15 years for the widespread application of his wireless communication devices.

Tesla admitted that predicting the future is difficult, as progress and innovations often develop in unexpected directions. Nevertheless, many of his earlier predictions have come true. He compared life to an unsolved mathematical equation with certain constant elements, the most important of which is motion. He emphasized that the principles of mechanics also apply to human life.

Tesla believed that progress is driven by energy, which can be increased by improving living and health conditions, reducing ignorance, madness, and religious fanaticism, and harnessing the natural forces of the universe, such as the sun, oceans, winds, and tides.  

Tesla also predicted health and armaments in the 21st century. He predicted that hygiene and physical activity would be crucial, and countries would invest less in armaments and more in education. He believed that in the future, the position of Secretary of Hygiene and Physical Culture in the U.S. President's cabinet would be more critical than the Secretary of Defense. He also expected that people would adopt healthier lifestyles and reduce meat consumption significantly.

In Nikola Tesla's opinion, substances like tobacco, coffee, and tea would lose popularity, but alcohol would remain the "elixir of life." Tesla foresaw a future in which robots gradually replace humans in simple tasks, which is becoming increasingly realistic today.

At the end of the interview, Tesla presented a vision of an invention that could end wars—a machine that could destroy targets at a distance of 320 kilometres. He emphasized that his device would create a defensive barrier, preventing effective attacks on any country and making wars pointless.

Tesla believed that the world must go through several destructive wars before his inventions were accepted. He was convinced that in the future, every country would be protected from attack thanks to inventions like his — as long as it does not get lost in further bloody conflicts. Unfortunately, just 4.5 years later, the world was struck by World War II...