It seems as if we are living in increasingly Dystopian times. Growing up, books such as 1984, A Brave New World, and The Handmaid's Tale were taught as cautionary tales...warnings against what could happen and what had happened during World War 2. These days, it seems as if those books are being used as blueprint and a roadmap to draw us deeper and deeper into a techno-dystopia heavily influenced by other literary and cinematic influences such as William Gibson's early cyberpunk work and books like Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash (apparently huge work for Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk).
I'm not interested in living in a techno-dystopian nightmare...but I'm also a realist and realize that AI, Social Media, and the huge influence of Digital technology is not going away. I have to be honest about the direction we are tending.
I believe we can do better. This year, I will be doing a series of blogs around the idea of the interplay of Dystopia and Ecotopia. Dystopia being a dark world, ruled by the few, with authoritarian power dominant and controlling people's life in an ugly and nefarious way (often through the use of technology), and Ecotopia being an idyllic, nature-based and nature-focused society that is continually regenerating and rejuvenating the world, nature, the biosphere, AND people.
Obviously, if you've read any of my work you know which side of this spectrum I land on. However, the world is not so simple and it seems like these two forces that are often diametrically opposed (at least in my mind) are more intertwined and interdependent that I like to admit.
This year I'll be exploring this relationship, looking at possible options we have in the face of Dystopian tendencies, and offering hope and solutions in response. Of course, I'll be doing this using the strangely ironic digital technologies of blogging, IG, and emails!
So, I invite you on this journey this year, and I hope it will be a fun journey together. It will definitely be interesting, and I can promise a few surprises along the way (I already have a few lined up)!
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