close

Must-Read for City Innovators: “Films from the Future. The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies” – Andrew Maynard. My Review.

My end of year break provided me with a much welcomed opportunity to have a dig at a growing pile of books I had wanted to read. One of the books on top of the list: “Films from the Future. The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies” by Arizona State University’s Andrew Maynard. The title is somewhat misleading, as it suggests low-threshold, easy for all science through the lens of popular sci-fi movies. Instead, Maynard has managed to produce a very important book – if not a must-read- for anyone interested or actively engaged in the world of innovation, science and technology – if not in fact anyone.

Maynard does not engage in an analysis of the top ten sci-fi movies ever made. No extrapolations from Black Mirror episodes, no big philosophical review of The Matrix twenty years after its first release. Instead, Maynard has selected movies – some of them great, some of them less well known or not so great – that serve the purpose of illustrating and, at times, driving the larger narrative Maynard wants to bring the reader.

Maynard carefully navigates that larger space that serves as the arena of big and often controversial topics such artificial intelligence, genetic manipulation, overpopulation, climate change – among others. A space that gets defined by science, innovation, technology, organization and ethics. Maynard moderates, where others prescribe. He debunks myths and hypes by means of reasoning that is at times scientific, at times ethical and always honest. He effectively addresses what I call determinist “exponentialism” – a pattern of reasoning that ends up in seemingly inevitable singularities or climate catastrophes and the science activism it can produce. Maynard does not state singularities or climate catastrophes will not happen, nor does he state science activism is a bad thing. But rather than getting obliterated by the no-escape horizon of a black hole, Maynard pulls you out and lets you land back on Earth and has you digest synthesis instead. Maynard addresses such exponentialism as a way of thinking where one is at risk of amplifying current biases in human reasoning rather than moderating it. Maynard never indulges in absolutes (only Dark Lords of the Sith deal in those), but he does counter the attitudes and patterns of reasoning of those that do – whether it is the absoluteness that stems from blind tech optimism, exponentialist determinism or a scientist working in perfect isolation, all of these variations get exposed, carefully and balanced.

As a ‘smart city’ professional, I particularly enjoyed the chapters where Maynard effectively addresses what I call ‘solutionism’ – the phenomenon of solutions getting produced no one wants or that do not address a genuine problem. Maynard has the reader sit back in the author’s virtual cinema to view the 1950’s movie “The Man in the White Suit” starring Sir Alec Guinness. In it, the quint-essential inventor-scientist develops a fabric that cannot be stained. He assumes people will hurry to embrace his invention to find that not to be the case. As with the Luddites in 19th century England not because people are opposed to new technologies or innovations per se, but because other care-abouts were never taken into consideration by the inventor. He had failed to ask. This is one of the many pitfalls smart city leaders and smart city technology solution providers have found themselves in. In Maynard’s words: “Most scientists (including engineers and technologists) I’ve met and worked with want to improve and enrich people’s lives. They have what I believe is a genuine commitment to serving the public good in most cases. And they freely and openly use this to justify their work. Yet surprisingly few of them stop to think about what the “public good” means, or to ask others for their opinions and ideas.”

Science, innovation and technologies can fail us for multiple reasons. Because they fail to address a need. Because they aren’t matched by a plan. Because people have a habit of losing their awe over something new rather quickly. As a funny illustration to the latter: I once read a funny theory that could have come straight out of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy: the reason alien civilizations haven’t come to visit us is that whenever a given civilization is smart enough to invent something like Warp propulsion getting you across the galaxy, people are too busy playing video games all the time. Joking aside: Our relationship with technology is more complex than it being governed by ignorance. Or fear. Or the enthusiasm of the scientist working in perfect isolation. Maynard: “Irrespective of how deep our science is, or how powerful and complex our technologies are, we cannot hope to build a better, more resilient future through science and technology if we don’t understand our relationship with them in the first place.”

Indeed – that is not just the core of the matter fore those that find themselves associated with science, new technologies and innovations on a daily basis. This holds true for all of us. Maynard: “It’s all well and good hoping that scientists and technologists act responsibly. But responsibility here also means that we collectively need to give a damn about the future we’re creating, and whether it’s the future we want for ourselves and for generations to come.” Reading Maynard’s book is a great and enjoyable step on that collective and individual journey.

 

“Films from the Future. The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies” – Andrew Maynard

Mango Publishing Group

Available on Amazon

 

 

Comments

  3. ldara at 06:35

    Let’s reiterate again clearly about the law on the age limit of online gambling players. Which must not be less than 18 years of age, if anyone violates must be punished According to the Gambling Act B.E. can not ignore the fault in this article A good way, players younger than 18 years should not play better.เกม ยิน ปลา

    Reply to this comment
  4. safetoto at 10:12

    I’m writing on this topic these days, safetoto, but I have stopped writing because there is no reference material. Then I accidentally found your article. I can refer to a variety of materials, so I think the work I was preparing will work! Thank you for your efforts.

    Reply to this comment
  5. SlotBK88 at 08:33

    Daftar User ID Sekarang juga agar anda bisa memainkan banyak sekali jenis permainan yang tersedia dalam situs slot online SlotBK88 nantinya, sehingga nantinya anda bisa menikmati berbagai kelebihan dan keuntungan dalam bermain.

    Reply to this comment
  6. Gaspoll88 at 08:34

    Hanya Menggunakan 1 user ID saja Anda sudah bisa Memainkan Semua Permainan Yang Anda Di Gaspoll88 Situs Yang Sudah Di percaya Sejak Dulu, Disamping Itu Kami Juga Menyediakan Prediksi Slot Gacor Hari Ini Maka dari itu Anda tidak perlu khawatir akan mengalami kerugian selama bermain di situs Gaspoll88.

    Reply to this comment
  7. Bigo88 at 08:36

    Bigo88 merupakan situs terpercaya yang ada di indonesia dan telah dipercaya oleh ratusan bahkan ribuan pemain yang memainkan permainan slot maupun judi online di indonesia.

    Reply to this comment
  8. Kudabet at 08:41

    Selamat Bergabung di situs Bandar Slot online terpercaya, Kudabet adalah salah satu pilihan yang tepat untuk dilakukan. Pasalnya anda akan bisa mendapatkan jaminan permainan yang 100% aman dan fair play, Disini kami juga Sebagai Agen Slot Terpercaya Di Indonesia Yang Sudah Di Kenal Dengan Situs Yang Tergacor dan Gampang MAxwin.

    Reply to this comment
  9. Anggur88 at 17:25

    Anggur88 slot Juga menyediakan anda berbagai macam jenis permainan slot.
    Anggur88 sangat peduli terhadap kepuasan pemain, oleh karena itu kami menyediakan banyak jenis permainan pada situs kami yang terbagi ke dalam berbagai kategori: Slot, Casino, Multiplayer dan Sportbook. Kami sangat teliti saat memilih provider di situs kami karena kami hanya ingin menyediakan permainan berkualitas untuk seluruh pemain kami. Anda hanya perlu mendaftar pada situs kami lalu anda dapat menggunakan akun anda untuk bermain pada seluruh permainan yang terintegrasi pada situs kami.

    Reply to this comment
  10. gelato88 at 17:44

    Bocoran Slot Gacor hari ini ada Pragmatic dan anda dapat memilih berbagai permainan yang sudah pasti dapat membuat Anda menang gacor!
    Nah berikut adalah Bocoran slot pragmatic hari ini dan bocoran hacker slot yang dapat Anda gunakan sebagai kiblat selama beberapa minggu ke depan!
    1.Slot Gates Olympus
    2.Slot Wild West Gold
    3.Slot Big Bass Bonanza
    4.Slot Aztec Gems
    5.Slot Great Rhino Megaways

    Reply to this comment
  11. SlotBK88 at 18:01

    Bagi Anda yang sedang mencari game Slot Online Terpercaya di Indonesia, SlotBK88 akan mendukung kalian dalam bermain slot online darimana saja. Silahkan daftar dan login SlotBK88 dengan mudah dan cepat. Kami juga akan membantu Anda dengan memberikan layanan customer service 24jam setiap harinya.

    Reply to this comment
  12. Jaringan88 at 20:01

    Bagi Anda yang sedang mencari Info Slot Gacor Terbaru Jaringan88 Merupakan Tempat Yang Tepat Untuk kalian dalam mencara Info Slot tergacor dan Terbaru, Karna Jaringan88 Selalu hadir dengan Info info Terbaru dan tergacor slot.

    Reply to this comment
  13. Bambu99 at 20:07

    Agen Slot Bambu99 dikenal sebagai web judi Situs Slot Terpercaya yang telah berlanglang buana sejak tahun 2018 di Indonesia. Kepuasan semua bettor adalah visi dan arah kami didukung dari segi servis dan keamanan.

    Reply to this comment
  15. Financings at 12:00

    Congratulations for the work done. We leave you an informative link about the new concept of financings

    Reply to this comment
  16. Szotar at 19:00

    Érdeklődő cégtulajdonosok részletes leírást találhatnak az cégeladás jelentése során gyakran használt fogalmak és kifejezések jelentéséről az adequit oldalán.

    Reply to this comment
  17. fun88 at 04:12

    ว้าว ฉันบังเอิญไปเจอบทความนี้ใน Google ฉันรู้สึกสนใจและแท็กมัน แน่นอนว่าฉันชอบเว็บไซต์ของคุณมากเช่นกัน มันกระชับมากและมีบทความและข้อมูลที่น่าสนใจมากมาย fun88 ถอนเงิน

    Reply to this comment
  36. ty le keo nhà cai at 03:09

    Trong lĩnh vực cá cược bóng đá, ty le keo nhà cai là một yếu tố quan trọng mà mọi người chơi cần phải hiểu rõ.

    Reply to this comment

Geef een reactie

Het e-mailadres wordt niet gepubliceerd.