[ExI] [tt] Too Much Futurism or Not Enough?

[spike]

From: tt-bounces at postbiota.org [mailto:tt-bounces at postbiota.org] On Behalf
Of Natasha Vita-More
Subject: [tt] [ExI] Too Much Futurism or Not Enough?

 

I remember 20-30 years ago when we talked about the future. Natasha

 

 

Good questions all.  Sometimes I think we tended to get a little too caught
up in the flying cars and space cities notions to notice the wonder of what
we ended up with instead.  Look at it this way.  What if the future turned
out the way the 50s sci-fi crowd envisioned.  We would have or be building
enormous space stations, on which perhaps 500 humans could live, which is
one in ten million, and wouldn't that be cool?  Well, not really, not for
the other 9,999,999 of every ten million.  What if we had ended up with
flying cars, wouldn't that be cool?  Not for most everybody, who couldn't
afford one.  In fact if you have enough money, we have flying cars, ones
that don't go very well on the road.  So no, that wasn't really all that
cool a vision.

 

So what if we greatly extend life?  We did, some, and likely will, and this
is cool.  Everyone can play if they want.  We can get a few body
enhancements, not as many as I had hoped for by now, if you  have a lot of
money.

 

But keep a focus on what we did get: the internet and cell phones, and
pretty soon, self-driving cars.  These are in reach of ordinary people with
ordinary means.  I am one such person, so I would say better we have
technical advances that we can actually have, rather than a bunch of really
cool stuff that only a few can afford.

 

Note who is writing all this, this is ME, the poster child hardcore
capitalist here.  The future turned out cool, even without the other stuff,
considering what stuff we did get.

 

spike

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