Technological utopianism

Not to be confused with Techno-progressivism or Techno-populism.
A NASA poster about a fictional Mars tour. Technological advances in space travel is often a theme in utopias.
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Technological utopianism (often called techno-utopianism or technoutopianism) is any ideology based on the premise that advances in science and technology could and should bring about a utopia, or at least help to fulfill one or another utopian ideal.

A techno-utopia is therefore an ideal society, in which laws, government, and social conditions are solely operating for the benefit and well-being of all its citizens, set in the near- or far-future, as advanced science and technology will allow these ideal living standards to exist; for example, post-scarcity, transformations in human nature, the avoidance or prevention of suffering and even the end of death.

Technological utopianism is often connected with other discourses presenting technologies as agents of social and cultural change, such as technological determinism or media imaginaries.[1]

A tech-utopia does not disregard any problems that technology may cause,[2] but strongly believes that technology allows mankind to make social, economic, political, and cultural advancements.[3] Overall, Technological Utopianism views technology's impacts as extremely positive.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, several ideologies and movements, such as the cyberdelic counterculture, the Californian Ideology, cyber-utopianism, transhumanism,[4] and singularitarianism, have emerged promoting a form of techno-utopia as a reachable goal. The movement known as effective accelerationism (e/acc) even advocates for "progress at all costs".[5] Cultural critic Imre Szeman argues technological utopianism is an irrational social narrative because there is no evidence to support it. He concludes that it shows the extent to which modern societies place faith in narratives of progress and technology overcoming things, despite all evidence to the contrary.[6]

  1. ^ Natale, Simone; Balbi, Gabriele (2014-04-03). "Media and the Imaginary in History". Media History. 20 (2): 203–218. doi:10.1080/13688804.2014.898904. hdl:2318/1769720. ISSN 1368-8804. S2CID 55924672.
  2. ^ Segal, Howard P. Imagining Tomorrow: History, Technology and The American Future, "The Technological Utopians", Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986.
  3. ^ Rushkoff, Douglas. EME: Explorations in Media Ecology, "Renaissance Now! Media Ecology and the New Global Narrative". Hampton Press, 2002, p. 41-57.
  4. ^ Hughes, James (2003). "Rediscovering Utopia". Counterfutures. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
  5. ^ Chowdhury, Hasan. "Get the lowdown on 'e/acc' – Silicon Valley's favorite obscure theory about progress at all costs, which has been embraced by Marc Andreessen". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  6. ^ "People Generally Do Not Act on Information on the Effects of Oil on the Environment". ScienceDaily. May 28, 2010. Retrieved 17 Nov 2010.