No, no … I said future *suck*

I found this article on Techcrunch to be interesting. The suggestion that technology has become a ‘dark forest’ is nothing new. We’ve been discussing the potential dangers of technology since we first met a guy named Doctor Frankenstein. The problem is that the article, like most everyone else, keeps ignoring the elephant in the room. If you don’t want technology to be a ‘dark forest,’ then start flashing some light in there. Remember that the future shouldn’t suck. Remember that the future is whatever you make of it, and then make it a good one.

Don’t ask me why futurology discussions continue to discuss life, the universe, and everything like they’re academic. We live here, people. We used to be the kids who said “wait until I grow up. I’ll show you!”

Well, folks. We’re here now. It’s up to us.The main thrust of the article is, that human society mistrusts new technology and disruptive business models. As well they should. I mean, duh. After fifty years of predatory capitalism, show me one major disruption where a tiny group people got rich at the cost of a lot of others. As we move on in the timestream, those disruptions get more and more sociopathic. Even Elon Musk gets some shrapnel, since he’s building this Brave New World while horror stories leak out from his current and former workers.

The point is that we’re the ones in charge … perhaps not as a whole, but at least of ourselves. Our priorities – and people prioritize what they want to – show what kind of future we want to have.

As for me, I’m want to build a future that I can be proud of. I hope you are, too.

Following on from my thoughts on a non-stupid year, I’d like to remind you that human stupidity is by no means a new concept. In fact,  Carlo M. Cipolla codified human stupidity into a series of practical laws back in 1976, almost like Newton’s Laws of Motion. When you get a moment, I think you’ll find his Laws of Stupid to be quite useful in navigating daily life. Wikipedia has a breakdown of the Basic Laws of Human Stupidity, too.

Being aware of stupidity – how it works and why it works – can help us push back on stupidity in science fiction when we see it. What we see as ‘toxic behavior’ in the community can often be described as stupidity. After all, how smart is it to complain about Rose in Star Wars? What, are they going to un-make the movie, re-cut it, and re-release it just to make you happy? Of course not, that’s stupid.

That’s just one example of sci-fi stupidity. It might be helpful for all of us to be aware that it exists, so that we can say to each other from time to time: “Hey … that’s kind of dumb.”

These laws are provided as a caution: being aware of of the laws of stupidity doesn’t mean you’ll never break them. We’re all weird, naked apes when it comes to it. All we can do is try to be aware of our stupidity and mitigate the risk whenever possible.

Write on! 🙂