And still, Starman is there, you are looking at the Perseids, writing. I'm working on a lecture about the paradoxical relationship between how incredibly interesting is AI and it's genealogy as a field of knowledge, and the toxicity of the financial aspect of it. From the point of view of a 57 year old advocate of the "art formerly known as media art" who played with VR and AL (life ) in the nineties and is thoroughly exploring constraint based art practices with Claude. This post inspired me a lot.
*formerly known as new media (Sarah Cook and Steve Dietz exhibition at the Banff Center). A field full of knowledge and warnings which may be quite useful for the days to come.
Wow, this really touched me.. I'm 60 years old and started my 30+ year career in tech at Microsoft right around the year you were born. I was fired last March for "not being a good fit" (read: I was too old.) You're right - there was an optimism that is gone now. It makes me so sad that your generation has been cheated out of that :(
That said, I'd argue that it is still possible to stargaze and experience the wonder and optimism that doing so inspires. Ironically, that is what I'm currently writing about .. I call it "The Great Cognitive Abdication" (ie, the systematic surrender of our thinking to anything that promises to make it easier.)
I'm new to Substack so I'm just getting up and running, but I'll be sharing more about how it is possible - still - to resist being lulled into the mindset that dulls (squashes?) creativity and joy.
Thanks for sharing - I remember that Bowie song - actually went to one of his concerts once :)
What a beautiful, haunting, and harrowing piece. This highlights exactly the sort of dull jackhammer complacency that I see in my daily life - it's scary just how well you've captured this feeling. I think I'll forever remember the words "The starman never came to meet us because we were too busy illuminating Narcissus’s reflection in murky puddles."
This post captures so well the loss of optimism we've all noticed in our visions of the future. Science fiction has turned so much to apocalyptic and dystopian themes. The solarpunk movement is the exception that proves the rule. This is art and fiction exploring technology in harmony with nature and related themes. It is telling that it gets so little attention.
I am very surprised by your surprise. The answer is simply financialization.
The only place you can make a mark right now is in the markets, so all talent goes there, or into the kind of company that will lift them into the wealthy.
Non-wealth is a death sentence for talent now in a way it wasn’t then.
Great article Alberto. As somebody who is 65, was an aspiring astronaut inspired by 2001 A space Odyssey, and was fully in tune with retro futurism, I have to say that after having learned quite a few things over the decades, it is a bittersweet realization to comprehend that humans are really not up to space travel. Of course we could eke out a trip to the moon. Some even think that we could make it to Mars, although I am quite dubious unless we devise sound techniques to cure cancer as fast as it’s generated, with second by second error correction. As a 747 pilot, the longest flights I ever took were 18 hours, and that formed an epiphany in which I realized that our bodies were not built for that type of travel in the long run. But that’s OK. I think the ones that will be up for this type of travel will be the bifurcated transhumans. They will be as transcended beyond our species as we are transcended from the squirrels.
If things are going to transpire as shaped evolution may have in mind, then we will have a Star Trek future. But I think a lot of people miss the point that the characters you see on Star Trek are not really humans. And that’s OK. Very seldom do you see those characters have to sleep, eat, and never have to take a shit. In any episode when the mission is going on fullbore, never does anyone have to go take a pee. As a 747 pilot I often had to take a pee, even when the job was becoming very serious. Had to turn over the controls. Eventually, my physiology betrayed me, and I had to leave flying. (with PD). It was as if to amplify the fact that we are not built for space travel. So I’m over it. I love travel and adventure. I love the romance of retro futurism. But I don’t see us in it unless we can radically overhaul our biology. And then, as augments, we will simply be a new type of being that can actually perform to the level of depicted Starfleet characters. Those people are intriguing. Most humans (and we’ve all met them) are far more underwhelming and not really worthy of space travel. For example: the average MAGA (probably 20% of the US population) only has aspirations of getting into heaven. Not aspirations of going to the heavens. For them life is so much better after you’re dead. That’s why, as role models, aggregate human qualities are an absolute dead end. Hopefully, at our best, we will be at transitional species for much better and more capable entities. I think it’s important to be OK with that.
Where we went (and most of us still go) “wrong”, is looking to the Heavens (outward) for meaning, purpose and satisfaction where the God-sized hole in our chest will never be filled. When, most through the portal of suffering, many of us go inward, we find the “peace that defies all understanding” that invariably indicates we have connected with our Creator and begin to grasp (by faith, for now, until we meet them in person) we are part of a vast Cosmic family.
For me, reading the Urantia Papers was a tremendous gift…
"Never to the stars" is my conclusion. Way easier, cheaper, and entertaining to don virtual reality gear, complete with tactile interaction, than to actually explore the solar system / galaxy. Space is deadly and there is no good way around that. Reality sucks.
As far as flying cars vs cell phones, maybe the easy stuff is all taken and now only hard things remain. The Apollo missions were a freak of the Cold War. The Space Shuttle's 30 years exhausted humanity's resolve and proved how hard space it. The ISS is nice and all but, I'd say it mostly proved that human physiology needs gravity to survive.
And then we have the fact that 50% of the population has an IQ < 100 and eventually, like now, they've taken political control of the country. That'd put a damper on innovation.
The stars are a metaphor. I'm not sure going to the stars is a desirable outcome at all; it's just the fact that *not* looking at them or dreaming of them manifests as a disease for humans.
"it's just the fact that *not* looking at them or dreaming of them manifests as a disease for humans."
... are you saying that humans can't (or won't) look at or dream of the stars anymore and that is manifesting as a diseased human race? ie, our collective inability to do that is a root cause? or the way the world is makes it impossible to do it anymore?
The latter is a fact (except it's just hard, not necessarily impossible), the former is a literary device to drive my point (not necessarily a scientific fact, although I wouldn't be surprised if there was a causal relation). But with that sentence what I'm saying is that we've traded off outward imagination for inward convenience
Maybe many are dreaming, but the onslaught of trashmedia overwhelms those who are: reversing aging/increasing longevity, creating robots for all labor, discovering new materials for countless applications, advancing AI for scientific, education, and entertainment, researching novel energy generation and advancements.
Maybe "space" was big and bold and in your face. And maybe everything else can't compare to the scope of such a dream.
I look around at science these days and am dazzled by the array of creativity and progress. No, they're not flashy "starman" caliber, but then, are any of those grand advancements actually left?
I'm an outsider but, from my POV (and what I know from reading history), 2025 America resembles *very little* 1968 America (I understand you mean the eve of AGI but, I'm talking about more than just technology wise, which is not exactly the theme of my essay!)
Oh, then I misunderstood. Then we agree, although I believe you're implying that past returns may improve the odds of future returns? I think we've lost something meaningful and fundamental since 1968, which is what I don't think we're getting back.
And still, Starman is there, you are looking at the Perseids, writing. I'm working on a lecture about the paradoxical relationship between how incredibly interesting is AI and it's genealogy as a field of knowledge, and the toxicity of the financial aspect of it. From the point of view of a 57 year old advocate of the "art formerly known as media art" who played with VR and AL (life ) in the nineties and is thoroughly exploring constraint based art practices with Claude. This post inspired me a lot.
"how incredibly interesting is AI and it's genealogy as a field of knowledge, and the toxicity of the financial aspect of it" we're on the same page!
*formerly known as new media (Sarah Cook and Steve Dietz exhibition at the Banff Center). A field full of knowledge and warnings which may be quite useful for the days to come.
Wow, this really touched me.. I'm 60 years old and started my 30+ year career in tech at Microsoft right around the year you were born. I was fired last March for "not being a good fit" (read: I was too old.) You're right - there was an optimism that is gone now. It makes me so sad that your generation has been cheated out of that :(
That said, I'd argue that it is still possible to stargaze and experience the wonder and optimism that doing so inspires. Ironically, that is what I'm currently writing about .. I call it "The Great Cognitive Abdication" (ie, the systematic surrender of our thinking to anything that promises to make it easier.)
I'm new to Substack so I'm just getting up and running, but I'll be sharing more about how it is possible - still - to resist being lulled into the mindset that dulls (squashes?) creativity and joy.
Thanks for sharing - I remember that Bowie song - actually went to one of his concerts once :)
What a beautiful, haunting, and harrowing piece. This highlights exactly the sort of dull jackhammer complacency that I see in my daily life - it's scary just how well you've captured this feeling. I think I'll forever remember the words "The starman never came to meet us because we were too busy illuminating Narcissus’s reflection in murky puddles."
Thank you Sonia, it's a really sad state of affairs...
This should be read along with Henry Farrell's recent piece on escaping the Gernsback continuum.
https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/we-need-to-escape-the-gernsback-continuum
So good, thanks for sharing Alan
the sheer sweetness of finding out...this is such a masterpiece of yours.
I have put Bowie's Starman on replay, on my Alexa (guilty) until I hit my easel and paints today.
What a beautifully told tragedy.
Thank you Pär!
This post captures so well the loss of optimism we've all noticed in our visions of the future. Science fiction has turned so much to apocalyptic and dystopian themes. The solarpunk movement is the exception that proves the rule. This is art and fiction exploring technology in harmony with nature and related themes. It is telling that it gets so little attention.
I am very surprised by your surprise. The answer is simply financialization.
The only place you can make a mark right now is in the markets, so all talent goes there, or into the kind of company that will lift them into the wealthy.
Non-wealth is a death sentence for talent now in a way it wasn’t then.
Aspirational humans, and their opposite.
Great article Alberto. As somebody who is 65, was an aspiring astronaut inspired by 2001 A space Odyssey, and was fully in tune with retro futurism, I have to say that after having learned quite a few things over the decades, it is a bittersweet realization to comprehend that humans are really not up to space travel. Of course we could eke out a trip to the moon. Some even think that we could make it to Mars, although I am quite dubious unless we devise sound techniques to cure cancer as fast as it’s generated, with second by second error correction. As a 747 pilot, the longest flights I ever took were 18 hours, and that formed an epiphany in which I realized that our bodies were not built for that type of travel in the long run. But that’s OK. I think the ones that will be up for this type of travel will be the bifurcated transhumans. They will be as transcended beyond our species as we are transcended from the squirrels.
If things are going to transpire as shaped evolution may have in mind, then we will have a Star Trek future. But I think a lot of people miss the point that the characters you see on Star Trek are not really humans. And that’s OK. Very seldom do you see those characters have to sleep, eat, and never have to take a shit. In any episode when the mission is going on fullbore, never does anyone have to go take a pee. As a 747 pilot I often had to take a pee, even when the job was becoming very serious. Had to turn over the controls. Eventually, my physiology betrayed me, and I had to leave flying. (with PD). It was as if to amplify the fact that we are not built for space travel. So I’m over it. I love travel and adventure. I love the romance of retro futurism. But I don’t see us in it unless we can radically overhaul our biology. And then, as augments, we will simply be a new type of being that can actually perform to the level of depicted Starfleet characters. Those people are intriguing. Most humans (and we’ve all met them) are far more underwhelming and not really worthy of space travel. For example: the average MAGA (probably 20% of the US population) only has aspirations of getting into heaven. Not aspirations of going to the heavens. For them life is so much better after you’re dead. That’s why, as role models, aggregate human qualities are an absolute dead end. Hopefully, at our best, we will be at transitional species for much better and more capable entities. I think it’s important to be OK with that.
Where we went (and most of us still go) “wrong”, is looking to the Heavens (outward) for meaning, purpose and satisfaction where the God-sized hole in our chest will never be filled. When, most through the portal of suffering, many of us go inward, we find the “peace that defies all understanding” that invariably indicates we have connected with our Creator and begin to grasp (by faith, for now, until we meet them in person) we are part of a vast Cosmic family.
For me, reading the Urantia Papers was a tremendous gift…
"Never to the stars" is my conclusion. Way easier, cheaper, and entertaining to don virtual reality gear, complete with tactile interaction, than to actually explore the solar system / galaxy. Space is deadly and there is no good way around that. Reality sucks.
As far as flying cars vs cell phones, maybe the easy stuff is all taken and now only hard things remain. The Apollo missions were a freak of the Cold War. The Space Shuttle's 30 years exhausted humanity's resolve and proved how hard space it. The ISS is nice and all but, I'd say it mostly proved that human physiology needs gravity to survive.
And then we have the fact that 50% of the population has an IQ < 100 and eventually, like now, they've taken political control of the country. That'd put a damper on innovation.
The stars are a metaphor. I'm not sure going to the stars is a desirable outcome at all; it's just the fact that *not* looking at them or dreaming of them manifests as a disease for humans.
"it's just the fact that *not* looking at them or dreaming of them manifests as a disease for humans."
... are you saying that humans can't (or won't) look at or dream of the stars anymore and that is manifesting as a diseased human race? ie, our collective inability to do that is a root cause? or the way the world is makes it impossible to do it anymore?
just curious ...
The latter is a fact (except it's just hard, not necessarily impossible), the former is a literary device to drive my point (not necessarily a scientific fact, although I wouldn't be surprised if there was a causal relation). But with that sentence what I'm saying is that we've traded off outward imagination for inward convenience
Agree!
Maybe many are dreaming, but the onslaught of trashmedia overwhelms those who are: reversing aging/increasing longevity, creating robots for all labor, discovering new materials for countless applications, advancing AI for scientific, education, and entertainment, researching novel energy generation and advancements.
Maybe "space" was big and bold and in your face. And maybe everything else can't compare to the scope of such a dream.
I look around at science these days and am dazzled by the array of creativity and progress. No, they're not flashy "starman" caliber, but then, are any of those grand advancements actually left?
I'm an outsider but, from my POV (and what I know from reading history), 2025 America resembles *very little* 1968 America (I understand you mean the eve of AGI but, I'm talking about more than just technology wise, which is not exactly the theme of my essay!)
Oh, then I misunderstood. Then we agree, although I believe you're implying that past returns may improve the odds of future returns? I think we've lost something meaningful and fundamental since 1968, which is what I don't think we're getting back.