4 ms·

Given that scams are as pervasive and ubiquitous nowadays as they have been for thousands of years, is there any hope for a utopian future where we are free of

Given that scams are as pervasive and ubiquitous nowadays as they have been for thousands of years, is there any hope for a utopian future where we are free of charlatanism, quackery and general dehumanization for the sake of rigorous profit maximization of all humans not in the ruling class?

ddq 3y ago
I envision the formation of such a utopia as bottom-up and community-focused, involving a lifestyle change where we deal predominately with people we know rather than strangers, strengthening social cohesion. Dream big, right? Or small, in this case; maybe something like federated villages. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…
- johnchristopher 3y ago
  Collective hallucination and peer pressure is a hell of a cocktail though. Leeches do feel good anyway and if this guy from the other village needs to wash his hands before operating it means he's not clean to begin with.
verisimi 3y ago
None. The whole thing is a scam. The only possible utopia, imo, is one where everyone tries to create their own whilst simultaneously allowing for other, quite different utopias. Whilst people continue to look to external authority/government for the answer (when they are the cause of the problems) we won't even start.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
stormfather 3y ago
Consider if you accept these three propositions: 1. In the future we will identify genes which govern sociopathy, or at least predispose to it. 2. Parents will have the ability to edit the genomes of their kids before conception. 3. Nobody wants a sociopathic kid. This is my headcannon for how humanity creates the Federation.
- johnchristopher 3y ago
  I think you missed some key plot points in the Star Trek lore :). (or forgot an /s ?).
  - stormfather 3y ago
    I've only ever watched TNG. I remember there was a nuclear holocaust with funny hats. Then ??? Then the federation.
    - johnchristopher 3y ago
      I won't spoil it to you, so, off the top of my head I'd recommend you watch star trek tos season 01 episode 22 "space seed" then the movie "the wrath of Khan" then Star Trek Enterprise season 4 episode 6 "the augments" then DS9 episode 16 season 5 'dr bashir I presume ?' (chronological order, switch ST Enterprise with ds9 if you want release order). There's a kind of resume of all that in Strange new world first episode (there's also another episode regarding genetic modification but considering it didn't prevent all the other episodes from happening then I suppose it can be skipped but it shows how strong is the opinion of the federation on the subject). I don't remember they talk much about the eugenic wars in TNG so it's most likely why it's not on your radar. They are all on Netflix at the moment. If you want to watch only one episode I highly recommend the Star Enterprise one (and there's a nice tie-in with TNG ;).
      - midoridensha 3y ago
        I recommend you watch the TNG Season 2 episode where Dr. Pulaski and Data visit a colony that's doing genetic engineering of children, and their engineered immune systems create some kind of virus that Pulaski has to fix on a shuttlecraft. The Federation's opinion of the subject is very strong in some episodes, and in others they completely forget about it.
      - sersi 3y ago
        That's a great summary of each of the relevant episodes. the TOS, the movie and DS9 episodes are really great, don't remember the enterprise episode though.
xjay 3y ago
Another view of what a utopia/golden age might look like: > "1893. When a series of suicides were vigorously discussed in United Kingdom newspapers, critic William Archer suggested that in the golden age* there would be penny-in-the-slot machines by which a man could kill himself." [1] *"'Golden Age' denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, stability, and prosperity." [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_device#Suicide_booth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_device#Suicide_boot... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age

ddq 3y ago

I envision the formation of such a utopia as bottom-up and community-focused, involving a lifestyle change where we deal predominately with people we know rather than strangers, strengthening social cohesion. Dream big, right? Or small, in this case; maybe something like federated villages. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood…

johnchristopher 3y ago
Collective hallucination and peer pressure is a hell of a cocktail though. Leeches do feel good anyway and if this guy from the other village needs to wash his hands before operating it means he's not clean to begin with.

verisimi 3y ago

None. The whole thing is a scam. The only possible utopia, imo, is one where everyone tries to create their own whilst simultaneously allowing for other, quite different utopias. Whilst people continue to look to external authority/government for the answer (when they are the cause of the problems) we won't even start.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

stormfather 3y ago

Consider if you accept these three propositions: 1. In the future we will identify genes which govern sociopathy, or at least predispose to it. 2. Parents will have the ability to edit the genomes of their kids before conception. 3. Nobody wants a sociopathic kid. This is my headcannon for how humanity creates the Federation.

johnchristopher 3y ago
I think you missed some key plot points in the Star Trek lore :). (or forgot an /s ?).
- stormfather 3y ago
  I've only ever watched TNG. I remember there was a nuclear holocaust with funny hats. Then ??? Then the federation.
  - johnchristopher 3y ago
    I won't spoil it to you, so, off the top of my head I'd recommend you watch star trek tos season 01 episode 22 "space seed" then the movie "the wrath of Khan" then Star Trek Enterprise season 4 episode 6 "the augments" then DS9 episode 16 season 5 'dr bashir I presume ?' (chronological order, switch ST Enterprise with ds9 if you want release order). There's a kind of resume of all that in Strange new world first episode (there's also another episode regarding genetic modification but considering it didn't prevent all the other episodes from happening then I suppose it can be skipped but it shows how strong is the opinion of the federation on the subject). I don't remember they talk much about the eugenic wars in TNG so it's most likely why it's not on your radar. They are all on Netflix at the moment. If you want to watch only one episode I highly recommend the Star Enterprise one (and there's a nice tie-in with TNG ;).
    - midoridensha 3y ago
      I recommend you watch the TNG Season 2 episode where Dr. Pulaski and Data visit a colony that's doing genetic engineering of children, and their engineered immune systems create some kind of virus that Pulaski has to fix on a shuttlecraft. The Federation's opinion of the subject is very strong in some episodes, and in others they completely forget about it.
    - sersi 3y ago
      That's a great summary of each of the relevant episodes. the TOS, the movie and DS9 episodes are really great, don't remember the enterprise episode though.

xjay 3y ago

Another view of what a utopia/golden age might look like: > "1893. When a series of suicides were vigorously discussed in United Kingdom newspapers, critic William Archer suggested that in the golden age* there would be penny-in-the-slot machines by which a man could kill himself." [1] *"'Golden Age' denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, stability, and prosperity." [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_device#Suicide_booth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia_device#Suicide_boot... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age