Very good episode. Was also interested to hear about how society has changed as told through habits of lecture theatres! I’ve heard it quoted that dystopias are failed utopias quite a bit now. My fear is that with the power, money, and media influence consolidated in the hands of a few people willing to work together, the impending dystopia will be sold to us as a utopian vision, but will only benefit the few, with it becoming a dystopia for all but the few. The many confected and exacerbated battles such as white vs brown, blue vs red, and relentless “othering”, which seem to be pushed by those with the greatest influence, seems to be the sleight of hand thats going to eventually usher this new phase into being. How else can we stop “them” if you don’t give us extra powers and controls?
Thanks for listening, Adam. Yes, I was also fascinated by how Daniele framed the ways people connect to one another (or don't), and how that has changed in his time as a professor.
I agree that polarisation and division can easily be used as excuses for restrictive policies masquerading as safety or risk prevention.
Safety and risk can also be used as the excuses, though, like Lovejoy Laws in all their many guises. As soon as the well-being of children is inserted into a debate, opponents immediately lose ground regardless of the efficacy of the proposed measure or the urgency of the supposed problem. It also sometimes works the other way; the pandemic, for example, led to polarisation and division based on the response of different people to the measures taken for safety reasons, which then drove further restrictions.
Quite the hamster wheel we're on as a civilisation...
Very good episode. Was also interested to hear about how society has changed as told through habits of lecture theatres! I’ve heard it quoted that dystopias are failed utopias quite a bit now. My fear is that with the power, money, and media influence consolidated in the hands of a few people willing to work together, the impending dystopia will be sold to us as a utopian vision, but will only benefit the few, with it becoming a dystopia for all but the few. The many confected and exacerbated battles such as white vs brown, blue vs red, and relentless “othering”, which seem to be pushed by those with the greatest influence, seems to be the sleight of hand thats going to eventually usher this new phase into being. How else can we stop “them” if you don’t give us extra powers and controls?
Thanks for listening, Adam. Yes, I was also fascinated by how Daniele framed the ways people connect to one another (or don't), and how that has changed in his time as a professor.
I agree that polarisation and division can easily be used as excuses for restrictive policies masquerading as safety or risk prevention.
Safety and risk can also be used as the excuses, though, like Lovejoy Laws in all their many guises. As soon as the well-being of children is inserted into a debate, opponents immediately lose ground regardless of the efficacy of the proposed measure or the urgency of the supposed problem. It also sometimes works the other way; the pandemic, for example, led to polarisation and division based on the response of different people to the measures taken for safety reasons, which then drove further restrictions.
Quite the hamster wheel we're on as a civilisation...
Excellent show!
Thanks Dave!