6 ms·

I really can't tell if we are headed towards a "1984" dystopia, a "Brave New World" dystopia, a Black Mirror "Nosedive" dystopia, or now a "GATTACA" dystopia.

I really can't tell if we are headed towards a "1984" dystopia, a "Brave New World" dystopia, a Black Mirror "Nosedive" dystopia, or now a "GATTACA" dystopia. It seems like we're headed to a horrible hybrid combination of all of the above.

vincnetas 8y ago
I would bet for "brave new world", because there's plenty of places ("islands") to leave a modern society and live your life without google, DNA tests, antibiotics or anything else.
- eclipxe 8y ago
  Just going to throw antibiotics in there...lol
  - mc32 8y ago
    I think they mean indiscriminate antibiotics (in foods). At least vaccines aren’t included in there.
- analognoise 8y ago
  No antibiotics? I guess if you don't want to live long.
- admiralEyebrows 8y ago
  Sure you could live your life with the perception that you're not participating in those features of modern society, but that won't stop those same "features" from acting on you. Or do you think Google will stop prying and respect your "Right to be Forgotten" when you recede into the jungle?
eaandkw 8y ago
Well I think the government sells us fear aka-1984 and the tech world sells us pleasure aka-Fahrenheit 451. Really it’s just two sides of the same coin. And that coin is control.
- metamet 8y ago
  But we get cool stuff like Seashell Radios--err, Airpods! I love putting my dystopian hat on, because I think it offers a convenient and critical lens to look at daily life through... I'd say the coin is a little more subtle than overt control, too. It's breeding passivity through comfort and entertainment, through the facade of individual power. Same thing they talked about in the Federalist Papers. Give some poor people a bit of land and they're no longer part of the poor class. Do that, the wealth in control gets a buffer from the masses. You create a class that will fight for you, because it means they get to keep their acre. Same thing we see now. A passively entertained populace has no reason to revolt. So just keep giving them small luxuries and distractions.
  - blacksmith_tb 8y ago
    Precedents extend much farther back[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses#Ancient_Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses#Ancient_Rom...
dymk 8y ago
I don't mean this in a seriously snarky tone, but: What you're saying has been said by every generation which experienced great leaps in technology. Why is this wave of technology, one less transformative than the invention of the printing press or transistor or nuclear bombs (none of which lead to ruin), going to be the one that leads to a dystopia?
- awakeasleep 8y ago
  I think you bring up an interesting point. For those of us who are employed in the darling industry of our time, in the most liberal societies, who manage our money well, and are not related to anyone undesirable, this will not be a dystopia, it'll be paradise!
  - fcarraldo 8y ago
    It would be beneficial to your friends and family, and probably your own quality of life, to start considering whether those who do not meet the above criteria should be subject to oppression, while those privileged by birth and wealth live in paradise.
  - balabaster 8y ago
    That is until something you're doing becomes undesirable or threatening to the natural order and then it'll stop being paradise and become a hell you can't outrun. Of course... that's always a risk. The government could turn the military machine on its own people and you'd end up there anyway. We can live in fear, or we can cross that bridge if and when we come to it.
- fcarraldo 8y ago
  There is still plenty of time to for the invention of the transistor or the nuclear bomb to lead to ruin.
  - dymk 8y ago
    And the printing press. But that's unlikely. I'm just trying to understand where this feeling of impending doom is coming from, and how it's being rationalized.
hprotagonist 8y ago
Snow Crash, obviously. (it really is kind of the most ... human ... and thus most likely )
buboard 8y ago
All of the above? Technology is a nondiscriminatory enabler
js2 8y ago
It's the Brazil dystopia that seems most likely to me, and about which I worry about the government having access to DNA.
djsumdog 8y ago
Not everything about Brave New World was bad. The modern polyamorous movement would love the "Everyone belongs to everyone" concept as a way to deal with loneliness. [some spoilers ahead] Sure creativity is reduced, but they've also reduced war and conflict. People who learn to think for themselves aren't executed, they're sent to an island with other thinkers (although the general population is led to believe this island is terrible and a punishment). The classic way of life is preserved .. although at the expense of those people who are sorta in their own little zoo. Brave New World is more a mixed bag than an absolute hell.

vincnetas 8y ago

I would bet for "brave new world", because there's plenty of places ("islands") to leave a modern society and live your life without google, DNA tests, antibiotics or anything else.

eclipxe 8y ago
Just going to throw antibiotics in there...lol
- mc32 8y ago
  I think they mean indiscriminate antibiotics (in foods). At least vaccines aren’t included in there.
analognoise 8y ago
No antibiotics? I guess if you don't want to live long.
admiralEyebrows 8y ago
Sure you could live your life with the perception that you're not participating in those features of modern society, but that won't stop those same "features" from acting on you. Or do you think Google will stop prying and respect your "Right to be Forgotten" when you recede into the jungle?

eaandkw 8y ago

Well I think the government sells us fear aka-1984 and the tech world sells us pleasure aka-Fahrenheit 451. Really it’s just two sides of the same coin. And that coin is control.

metamet 8y ago
But we get cool stuff like Seashell Radios--err, Airpods! I love putting my dystopian hat on, because I think it offers a convenient and critical lens to look at daily life through... I'd say the coin is a little more subtle than overt control, too. It's breeding passivity through comfort and entertainment, through the facade of individual power. Same thing they talked about in the Federalist Papers. Give some poor people a bit of land and they're no longer part of the poor class. Do that, the wealth in control gets a buffer from the masses. You create a class that will fight for you, because it means they get to keep their acre. Same thing we see now. A passively entertained populace has no reason to revolt. So just keep giving them small luxuries and distractions.
- blacksmith_tb 8y ago
  Precedents extend much farther back[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses#Ancient_Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses#Ancient_Rom...

dymk 8y ago

I don't mean this in a seriously snarky tone, but: What you're saying has been said by every generation which experienced great leaps in technology. Why is this wave of technology, one less transformative than the invention of the printing press or transistor or nuclear bombs (none of which lead to ruin), going to be the one that leads to a dystopia?

awakeasleep 8y ago
I think you bring up an interesting point. For those of us who are employed in the darling industry of our time, in the most liberal societies, who manage our money well, and are not related to anyone undesirable, this will not be a dystopia, it'll be paradise!
- fcarraldo 8y ago
  It would be beneficial to your friends and family, and probably your own quality of life, to start considering whether those who do not meet the above criteria should be subject to oppression, while those privileged by birth and wealth live in paradise.
- balabaster 8y ago
  That is until something you're doing becomes undesirable or threatening to the natural order and then it'll stop being paradise and become a hell you can't outrun. Of course... that's always a risk. The government could turn the military machine on its own people and you'd end up there anyway. We can live in fear, or we can cross that bridge if and when we come to it.
fcarraldo 8y ago
There is still plenty of time to for the invention of the transistor or the nuclear bomb to lead to ruin.
- dymk 8y ago
  And the printing press. But that's unlikely. I'm just trying to understand where this feeling of impending doom is coming from, and how it's being rationalized.

hprotagonist 8y ago

Snow Crash, obviously. (it really is kind of the most ... human ... and thus most likely )

buboard 8y ago

All of the above? Technology is a nondiscriminatory enabler

js2 8y ago

It's the Brazil dystopia that seems most likely to me, and about which I worry about the government having access to DNA.

djsumdog 8y ago

Not everything about Brave New World was bad. The modern polyamorous movement would love the "Everyone belongs to everyone" concept as a way to deal with loneliness. [some spoilers ahead] Sure creativity is reduced, but they've also reduced war and conflict. People who learn to think for themselves aren't executed, they're sent to an island with other thinkers (although the general population is led to believe this island is terrible and a punishment). The classic way of life is preserved .. although at the expense of those people who are sorta in their own little zoo. Brave New World is more a mixed bag than an absolute hell.