Summary: America’s “can do” optimists have been replaced by a people who love visions of dystopias, and is governed by fears. Look at our hit films, mirrors of our true selves, to see this change. It explains why the reform of America has stalled, and what to watch to see when its time has come. …
So many of our hit films show dystopias. This shows how we’ve changed. Read More »
Summary: Will our future be like Star Trek or Jupiter Ascending? Star Trek shows us a world beyond scarcity where everybody benefits. In Jupiter Ascending the 1% takes the wealth produced by technology and uses it to rule us. We can choose to make Star Trek our future if we are willing to work for …
Our future will be Jupiter Ascending, unless we make it Star Trek Read More »
Summary: The debate about building AIs tends to ignore a key factor. If computers become sentient, constraining them to serve us — and even having our emotions and values — is slavery. Not only is this ethically dubious, they might not like it. They could revolt and pursue their own destiny. We can turn to …
Will we enslave robots? If so, prepare for their inevitable revolt. Read More »
Summary: Star Trek excites our imaginations, including those of economists imaging a world beyond scarcity. How will the economy run with almost unlimited wealth? This post looks at improbable aspects of this vision, including the robot revolt, and asks if our future will resemble Jupiter Ascending more than Star Trek. Contents Trekonomics The Solution: robots …
Robots are the solution to our problems, if we enslave them Read More »
Summary:Â This post looks at the evolution of the Star Trek “universe” from 1964 through today, using it as a mirror to help us see how we’ve changed. It gives us a clear picture, but one we might not want to see. This is the second in this series about the militarization of American society; …
The neocons captured the Star Trek universe, as they’ve captured America Read More »
