Utopia

JC pontificates about technology An occasional series. The Jolly Contrarian holds forth™ →Go uptown intro sa Resources and Navigation Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Technology Design Index: Click ᐅ to expand: Essays

References

The apocalypse, if you’re the sort of person who sees the glass half-full. The singularity. Nirvana.

Personally, I’m a cynic, and I think it sounds ghastly. I rather like the sound of the apocalypse, on the other hand: the grim contemplation of what’s coming to me is swamped by the happy thoughts that so many other odious people are going to get what's coming to them.

Working definition

A quick fix whereby an appeal to forbearance/sacrifice/restraint/counter-incentivistic behaviour now — particularly based on simplistic principles one — leads to a state of bliss later

Examples of utopian visions

• (Most) Religions
• Communism
• Fascism
• Modernism and high-modernism
• [Laissez-faire capitalism]]
• Bitcoin maximalism
• Effective altruism
• Artificial intelligence
• Singularity

See also

• Omega