We Used to Want it All Now We Just Want a Little Bit
William Gibson on “Future Fatigue.” Excerpt:
Say it’s midway through the final year of the first decade of the 21st Century. Say that, last week, two things happened: scientists in China announced successful quantum teleportation over a distance of ten miles, while other scientists, in Maryland, announced the creation of an artificial, self-replicating genome. In this particular version of the 21st Century, which happens to be the one you’re living in, neither of these stories attracted a very great deal of attention.
It’s one of those times I wish I found Gibson’s novels more engrossing.
Via Nick’s shared items.
Pingback by Matthew Yglesias » Gibson on “Future Fatigue” —
June 6, 2010 @ 2:59 pm
[...] Via Jim Henley, William Gibson writes: Say it’s midway through the final year of the first decade of the 21st Century. Say that, last week, two things happened: scientists in China announced successful quantum teleportation over a distance of ten miles, while other scientists, in Maryland, announced the creation of an artificial, self-replicating genome. In this particular version of the 21st Century, which happens to be the one you’re living in, neither of these stories attracted a very great deal of attention. [...]
Comment by frightened regular UO consumer —
June 7, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
Say it’s midway through the final year of the first decade of the 21st Century. Say that, after the end of last week, one thing happened: a popular blogger notes that scientists in China announced successful quantum teleportation over a distance of ten miles, while also noting that other scientists, in Maryland, announced the creation of an artificial, self-replicating genome. In this particular version of the 21st Century, which happens to be the one you’re living in, the blog entry about these stories did not attract a very great deal of attention, in fact, just a pingback.
Comment by Thoreau —
June 7, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
OK, that’s a solid thread win with special commendation for excellence in use of meta.
Pingback by Lost in Transliteration » Quick Hits —
June 8, 2010 @ 12:08 pm
[...] Item 1: We are so living in the future now, says William Gibson: Say it’s midway through the final year of the first decade of the 21st Century. Say that, last week, two things happened: scientists in China announced successful quantum teleportation over a distance of ten miles, while other scientists, in Maryland, announced the creation of an artificial, self-replicating genome. In this particular version of the 21st Century, which happens to be the one you’re living in, neither of these stories attracted a very great deal of attention. (via) [...]
Comment by Eric the .5b —
June 8, 2010 @ 8:32 pm
Hmm. I think I’m tired of “we’re living in the future”. Also of, “geeks have taken over”.
Nobody’s every lived in the future – you only get right now. And during right now, the constant slew of neat little science and technology stories never gets a lot of attention from the public.
These stories were always there, constantly coming. Before they popped up in RSS feeds, they were in that shiny middle section of Omni or in articles in Popular Science or Scientific American or whatever. Only a niche audience, the geeks, read about them while the rest of the world paid attention to other things. Before the “endless digital now”, there was the “endless analog now” and the “endless pre-electric now”.
When people talk about Singularities or try their best to conjure up images of 2012 or dhimmitude or panopticon, they’re talking just as much about a big-F future as anyone did in the 50s.
Nothing’s changed here, just the people involved.
Comment by Nick Novitski —
June 9, 2010 @ 7:17 pm
Really? Not even Pattern Recognition?
If you’re not careful, I may lend you a collection of his short stories.