How to avoid a Dystopian future – MKW

How to avoid a Dystopian future – MKW

Melbourne Knowledge Week is the best! Last night we went to a talk at the MKW Hub. It is an amazing space, filled with light art, beautiful ferns and sculptures.

The talk was a panel of authors and academics discussing how we can avoid a Dystopian future. I loved the first speaker, Andrew Milner the best who gave lots of examples of Dystopian fiction from the past, covering areas such as the Totalitarian State, Absolute Corporate Power, Nuclear War, Gender Politics and Climate Collapse. I can’t remember if he spoke about Technology but that would have been a good addition.

He said that the purpose of Dystopian fiction is to act as a warning and the way to avoid a Dystopian future is to heed the warnings.

The second and third speakers were also interesting. Tim Dunlop spoke about the future of work, it was interesting, and Dr Karen Jones talked about the ethics and trust, particularly political trust.

Then there was some questions from the MC and the audience. My little brain was on fire with ideas and thoughts. We went to dinner afterwards but the conversation barely touched on the talks. How come after a movie, people talk for hours in a seemingly mindless string of movies they have seen, but after a very thought provoking talk, no one wants to chat about what kinds of ideas the speeches inspired in them? Ho hum.

It was still an incredible evening, all the better for the cold, rainy weather and red wine. 🙂

1 Comment
  • pipeldoot
    Posted at 14:37h, 12 May

    As if on cue a family walked into the cafe. The two children, maybe five year old twin boys, were using iPads as they were walking. They have barely lifted their gaze during lunch.

    Good luck to us! The first kid barged through a group of people completely oblivious to them and the second one had this wired look in his eyes. As though he is actually turning into a robot.

    No conversation, no space, no boredom. Just distraction and bits.

    This is our future!