UK Ministry of Defence enlists sci-fi writers to prepare for dystopian futures
UK Ministry of Defence enlists sci-fi writers to prepare for dystopian futures
UK Ministry of Defence enlists sci-fi writers to prepare for dystopian futures
It’s a scenario that would make Tesla’s Ceo, Elon Musk, shudder: a future where self-driving cars are the norm but a catastrophic electronic breakdown traps thousands of people inside them.
This dystopian vision of the future was one sketched out by science fiction writers at an event this week where experts were asked to prepare Britain for threats ranging from pandemics to cyber and nuclear attacks.
The writers joined researchers and policymakers working in crisis management and resilience at the gathering organised by RBOC (Resilience Beyond Observed Capabilities), a network of academics whose funders include the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Instead of using so much human knowledge and ingenuity to deal with an inevitable future ..... why not use this knowledge to prevent the dystopian future we worry so much about.
This is like riding a runaway train to a cliff with broken tracks and instead of trying to figure out how to stop the train, everyone is trying to figure out where the best seats are.
So the best way to stop a runaway train is usually to derail it. I'm not saying we won't get to the point where derailing the train becomes a socially acceptable idea, but I don't think we're there just yet.
When you think about it ..... no matter what we do or don't do, the train will get derailed anyway.
But it also implies that we have no control at all. We are able to apply brakes, to stop or slow the engine or do things to slow the carriage ..... we just don't want to because we think the ride is fun and instead blissfully ignore the end of the track and happily increase speed.