The Utopia Project

[sequentialscott]

Roger Ebert has an interesting blog entry that begins:

It's all coming to pieces, isn't it -- the world we live in, the continuity we thought we could count on, the climate, the economy, the fragile peace. The 20th century was called "the American Century," with some reason. I do not believe the 21st century will belong to anybody, and it may not

Comments

[leemoyer]

"humanity achieves its potential" - what a concept.
Humans, despite the teachings of the Bible and its ilk, are animals. Really successful animals. But history teaches us that all success comes at a price, and no species really ever survives.

I adore the Vegan, sustainability-loving, all-natural peeps I know. I think they are fabulous and offer an interesting view of humanity. But what interests me is the extent to which they are the exception to "humanity". I think they are as close to that pinnacle of "humanity" as we will get, but they are such a small minority...

And how many species will disappear if they don't get used and abused by humans? It's thorny business, and I think anyone looking for a panacea is pretty much always going to end up with Pirelli's Miracle Elixir.

[sequentialscott]

So as I see it the vegan, sustainable, all natural folks focus on our (non)impact on the environment. I wonder how they'd get along with the vision of science finally solving everything and the bright, sparkling, synthetic vision of the future that also happens to preserve the environment. And the religiously focused might not give a rat's ass about the environment as long as everyone believes the right thing and there aren't any statues of Buddha floating around out there.

Part of what I'd be interested to see is what people focus on. I wonder if any themes would emerge. I wonder if there's a vision of utopia that doesn't involve everyone thinking the same way. In the "Religion X finally converts everyone in the world" scenario, could belief in and support of human rights count as "religion X"? Is peace in fact a universal goal

[leemoyer]

"science finally solving everything"

lol

You are dreamer.
Antibiotics have made so much possible, but they will come to an end soon. Every time I see soap or some other consumer BS that claims to hurt the wee microbes I just get a little sick. People just don't grasp how the world works. And they never will.

I recommend the recent This American Life (I recommend them all really, but the recent one is germane) called "Ruining it for everyone". It focuses on how vaccination-abstainers put the mass at risk of death. That's US all over.

[sequentialscott]

The "science finally solving everything" isn't me - I was more thinking of some of the pulp sci-fi from the '50's that had gleaming spires and aircars and the like.

Personally, I see one of two things on the horizon:

1. A perfect storm of war, economic depression, climate change, and population excess/resource competition.

2. An imperfect storm in which those things hit not all at once but staggered just enough for some sort of attempt to deal with.

If the first, it's conceivably possible that we might wipe ourselves out. If the second, we'll segment more than we already are into a haves and have-nots society. While I doubt that we'll off ourselves, seriously hard times are ahead. How does the rational person walk between doing what she reasonably can and falling into outright paranoid panic?

[cheqyr]

I won't go into detail because that would spoil it, but you need to read John Crowley's story "The Great Work of Time", where he provides one possible Utopia. It's an incredible time-travel story: the most unique one I know.

Or, look at the Planet of the Highest Possible Level of Development in Stanislaw Lem's "Cyberiad".

[sequentialscott]

I'll look them up. Thanks. :)

My favorite time travel story is "The Man Who Murdered Mohammed" by Alfred Bester.