Science, Futurism and Post scarcity

I want to talk about where science and utopian futurism overlap. There was a time when science fiction was a prediction as much as it was a warning. These days it seems like most science fiction that is popular is terrifying. Oblivion. After Earth. World War Z. Are we really that worried that our future is dystopian?

I don’t know who would profit from a technological dystopia. Even the people who are rich in a technological dystopia are under constant threat. If technology is taken to its logical extreme, what does “rich” even mean?

I know who would profit from a technological utopia: everyone! Think about Star Trek. There is a microwave that can not only warm up your food, but create it from its constituent molecules. Plus you can create a trombone as well. Seriously, there is almost no limit to anything in the Star Wars universe except for knowledge. That’s why they explore the frontier.

I love thinking about post-scarcity. How can we start living like it is already a post-scarcity society? I think the answer is to rely primarily on things that are not scarce. If you can afford food, rent, healthcare and bandwidth, and that’s all you need to be happy, then there is no relevant scarcity to you.

All that we need now is a frontier. And that is science.