Thanks for the elaboration. I haven’t given much consideration to “desired dystopias” before and they are really interesting to consider.
Another dystopian scenario to consider could be one in which humanity “strands” itself on Earth through resource depletion. This could also prevent future life from achieving a grand future.
I think that’d indeed probably prevent evolution of other intelligent life on Earth, or prevent it achieving a grand future. But at first glance, this looks to me like a “premature extinction” scenario, rather than a clear-cut “dystopia”. This is because humanity would still be wiped out (when the Earth becomes uninhabitable) earlier than the point at which extinction is inevitable no matter what we do (perhaps this point would be the heat death of the universe).
But I’d also see it as fair enough if someone wanted to call that scenario more a “dystopia” than a standard “extinction event”. And I don’t think much turns on which label we choose, as long as we all know what we mean.
(By the way, I take the term “desired dystopia” from The Precipice.)
Thanks for the elaboration. I haven’t given much consideration to “desired dystopias” before and they are really interesting to consider.
Another dystopian scenario to consider could be one in which humanity “strands” itself on Earth through resource depletion. This could also prevent future life from achieving a grand future.
I think that’d indeed probably prevent evolution of other intelligent life on Earth, or prevent it achieving a grand future. But at first glance, this looks to me like a “premature extinction” scenario, rather than a clear-cut “dystopia”. This is because humanity would still be wiped out (when the Earth becomes uninhabitable) earlier than the point at which extinction is inevitable no matter what we do (perhaps this point would be the heat death of the universe).
But I’d also see it as fair enough if someone wanted to call that scenario more a “dystopia” than a standard “extinction event”. And I don’t think much turns on which label we choose, as long as we all know what we mean.
(By the way, I take the term “desired dystopia” from The Precipice.)