One reason I hear for pessimism is not merely Clive Thompson’s point that dystopian scenarios are easy to imagine, but that we’ve already created dystopias. It’s NOT merely imagination. We’ve already dropped atomic weapons, created murderous totalitarian governments, and starved millions of people to death through blithe mismanagement. As proof of concept such things have already happened, they could be scaled, and if they happen again, they will be bigger and badder. It’s hard for most people to imagine unknown future good things that outweigh “knowable” future horrors.
P.S. can I get a deep dive on whether the 20th century is rightly called “the bloodiest century”? It seems obviously so. But I would like to see the data sliced several different ways.
One reason I hear for pessimism is not merely Clive Thompson’s point that dystopian scenarios are easy to imagine, but that we’ve already created dystopias. It’s NOT merely imagination. We’ve already dropped atomic weapons, created murderous totalitarian governments, and starved millions of people to death through blithe mismanagement. As proof of concept such things have already happened, they could be scaled, and if they happen again, they will be bigger and badder. It’s hard for most people to imagine unknown future good things that outweigh “knowable” future horrors.
P.S. can I get a deep dive on whether the 20th century is rightly called “the bloodiest century”? It seems obviously so. But I would like to see the data sliced several different ways.