Being a pessimist is one of the occupational hazards associated with working as a journalist. Combine that with the fact that the very business of journalism itself appears to be on rather dubious footing and it should become apparent why it’s hard to find many people in this industry who are optimistic about their own futures, much less anybody else’s.
I am, though. I know I’m not supposed to be, and I’m definitely not supposed to be basing my optimism on the promise of scientific breakthroughs and technological progress. After all, human history is littered with examples of supposedly beneficial innovations that have ended up causing far more harm than good.
Still, I hold faith in the abilities of scientists and tech-geeks to solve many of the world’s myriad problems (In fact I detailed 29 different ones this ones with the help of Alix Kemp). And I don’t just mean curing cancer or producing a low-cost, environmentally-sound means of generating power. No, I mean game-changing things like biodomes (without Pauly Shore) and self-piloting cars (with the ability to text and talk on the phone while inside them).
This isn’t quite as outlandish as it sounds. After all, if you’d told someone even twenty years ago that you’d be able to watch television on a tablet in 2012, they would have asked you if you’d hit your head on anything recently. Sure, science and technology may not have delivered on the promise of hover cars or jetpacks, but in many other respects they have outstripped our own imaginations in their creativity and craftsmanship.
So yes, I’m an optimist. I think the world can get better, that we’re not destined to drift inexorably towards environmental ruin or permanent enslavement by an army of sentient robots. And if it doesn’t get better and we do end up being chased to the ends of the earth by malicious robots and ground into fertilizer, well, at least I’ll know who to blame.








