Utopia, Dystopia, and Prejudices

Sometimes life happens in seredipity, and coincidences occur far too frequently than statistics would suggest.

After posting the last blog on utopia, and mentioning Bill Joy's article, I googled it to refresh my memory of what I recalled to be an inspiring article. After finding it and re-reading it, I realize how poignant it is, especially since the Grand Challenge came up with a winner, an autonomous vehicle that traversed difficult terrain for over a couple hundred miles, in under seven hours. The amazing aspect of the Great Challenge is that within one year of the past failed attempts, when all the participants failed within sight of the starting line, over a quarter of the two dozens participants this year finished! And the top five finishers are witnin an hour of each other. Bill Joy predicted that self-replicating, almost sentient robots may be technically possible by the year 2030. Humanity has a quarter century to prepare for utopia or dystopia. Is our future heaven or hell?

To mix my metaphors a little, I would say that heaven and hell are separated by the Solzhenitsyn thin line, the thin line that runs through every human heart, regardless of race, creed, political ideology, or any other labels. Prejudices and hatred is barely beneath the surface of every human heart, covered by a thin veneer of civility. In the Oct. 7 issue of Nature, there is a study published by the US National Institute of Aging, which looked at stereotypes of different nations, and the perceptions of people with respect to their own stereotypes. Most people have a misconception of themselves, and their own fellow citizens. And coincidentally, the movie "Crash", starring Sandra Bullock, deals with similar issues.

Prejudices are based on misconceptions. Until we can learn to base our decisions on true and reliable data, utopia will be forever out of reach. Worse yet, with the transforming power yet to come, in the new technologies yet to be invented, dystopia will surely come pouring forth from the hearts of people who, out of ignorance, or arrogrance, or anger, or hatred, unleashing species extinction. If we, humanity, cannot contain our own community, then perhaps we deserve extinction.

With the new powerful technologies yet to come, we have a responsibility, collectively, to ensure that power does not fall into the wrong hands. History has shown the indiscriminate nature of technological power. Fire burns brightly, gunpowder explodes loudly, and nuclear weapons terrifies, no matter who wields the power. History has also shown that suppression is not the answer. Hackers and software vulnerabilities have shown that knowledge and suppression of knowledge is incompatible. Knowledge, like water, will always find a leak.

What we must do, as a community of humanity, must solve this problem together, not as individuals, but as a family. Just like in a family, it is always the children who learn and adapt new technology best, so too we must ensure that children acqure the responsibility to decide, to act, on the good side of that fine line which separates us from the abyss. The time is short, and the task immense, but if we begin immediately, and accomplish small tasks together, we can ensure a new generation of children will matures into responsible adults, who know the limits of their abilities, and look both way before stepping into the highway of the future. First and foremost, we must teach our children to transcend above prejudices, above the misguided stereotypes, and look at the world as individuals, without preconceived notions, but for what it realy is, for better or for worse. Most of all, in spite of all the darkness of the dystopic visions of extinction, we must have hope and optimism, to bring about utopia. And the first step in this journey together, is for the rich nations, the rich individuals, to give hope to those who have not. Instead of wasting energy on material things, humanity must focus more on fellow hearts and mind, to ensure that each thread in the tapestry of life, will shine, that each child in the family of humanity will look forward to living in the future.

It is this latest trend of altruism in American culture that gives me hope of the utopia yet to come, and not the dystopic Armmggedom found in Bill Joy's article, or in Revelation. When people like Oprah and Dr. Phil, and many others, decide to give voice to those without voice, to give strength to those in despair, to give hope and joy to those who are desparate, to give without expectation of reward, to love without judgment, this is the brightest thread in our collective tapestry that will bring for a beautiful future. Yet, nature is full of examples where life is on the verge of tipping over; we all stand at the edge of the precipice, a little more effort and we are safe, a little less and we all perish. Like the parable of those waiting for the master's return, vigilance and not a moment's lax attention is required if we are to reach heaven's door.

Bush had the right idea, when they came up with the jargon, "Leave No Child Behind". What we need is to extend that for all children in the world, and not just those in any one particular country, or any economic social strata. The war against terrorism can be won by showering each child with love; the war of attrition against suicide bombers can be won only by cutting off the supply of angry disillusioned young men who see no hope, no joy in the future. "Love thy enemy" is literally the best strategy.