GOD V. LEVIATHAN

8/22/24

I am writing this essay in the summer of 2024. It is widely assumed that if we looked twenty years into the future and observed the world of 2044, it would appear wildly different to the present, largely due to technological progress. 

But I believe we should begin taking seriously a strange possibility--that the year 2044 will seem less futuristic than our current time; that if we could peer forward 20 years, we'd see progress had not only stalled, but reversed. 

Even stranger, we might see that this was not due to some catastrophe, but a consequence of our reactions to rapid changes which proved unsettling to the masses and disruptive to the status quo. 

This is of course wild speculation, but worth pondering. The period of rapid material advancement we’ve experienced over the last few centuries is unusual in the grand scheme of our species’ history. It is not absurd to wonder whether it will continue indefinitely, nor is it absurd to wonder whether progress can be intentionally disrupted at scale. Many subcultures around the world shun modernity. Perhaps the destiny of mankind is to become more and more like the Amish. 

If this seems far-fetched, consider that human beings are fundamentally skeptical of change, and if there is too much in a short time, the forces of reaction inevitably rear their head. 

Today, we cannot help but think of technological advancement in linear terms. We even use the word luddite as a pejorative to mock those who question the inevitability of innovation's forward march. But perhaps that's only because the luddites lost, and perhaps they only lost because they were outnumbered. What happens if they aren't outnumbered? And what happens if they win? 

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