Science fiction has always been a mirror and a map, reflecting our ambitions while charting their risks. In Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon, Takeshi Kovacs prowls a neon-drenched future where the wealthy, known as Methuselahs, cheat death by slipping their digitized minds into new bodies, their consciousness preserved in cortical […]
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Chpt 28: The Precise Nature Of The Catastrophe
Dense urban environments are a black hole of chaos slowly consuming our societies. For most of human history, we have lived in low-density, rural environments. Before 1600, only 5% of the world’s population lived in an urban environment, by 1900 this was 16% and current estimates have urban densities as […]
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Chpt 22: Demented But Determined
Plato, the ancient Greek philosopher, grappled with the concept of utopia in his works “The Republic” and “The Laws.” His ideas on the ideal society continue to influence modern thought and invite us to consider whether utopias are truly attainable. Or, if this is even something we should be attempting […]
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Chpt 12: Synchronize Your Dogmas
The world, as portrayed in the media, seems rife with societal chaos and instability, in this chaos, vulnerabilities to authoritarian rule become glaringly apparent. As the novelist Tahereh Mafi aptly reminds us, “The world I remember was tired and racist and volatile as hell, ripe for a hostile takeover by […]
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Chpt 11: Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again
In the shadowed recesses of their concealed refuge on the outskirts of a sprawling city, the Johnson family gathered together, their embrace akin to the desperate communion of souls in a world ensnared by the oppressive grasp of the New World Order. A single, flickering oil lamp cast spectral shadows […]
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Chpt 9: Irregular Apocalyse
Scene: The year, 2034, the place, a small town in the country of Newland. The local population gathered to hear the words of a charismatic young man. He steps forward. In the background, his wife and children hold each other. The evening air is still, the crowd has gathered willingly, […]