VOYAGE TO THE FUTURE
‘You must rely on reason and science,’ she said, ‘and be guided by a likewise rational ethic of human concern. You must do your utmost as individuals to improve your understanding, ability and compassion. As a species you must maintain and extend your presence in space, and from that vantage do what you can to repair the Earth. Whether or not you succeed, you must never give up.’
Are current global crises taking us into the territory where science fiction turns into reality? Back in the 1990s when historians looked to a peacful and prosperous future, Scottish science fiction writer Ken MacLeod was forecasting a much grittier world ahead. His novel The Sky Road depicted the world of the 2050s as dangerously unstable, racked with crises in capitalism and global revolution, fragmented into smaller aggressive states.
The book describes the advance of militant groups, a world of tightening national security and increasing threat of nuclear weapons. It also describes how humans weather the storm and come through to a more peaceful time ahead.
What does he think of the present day, and how does he now see the future? Join him in conversation as he describes how he builds scenarios of the future, and then sit back for a drink and a chat.
