The Shape of Shit to Come

THE SHAPE OF SHIT TO COME

STEVE LOWE AND

ALAN McARTHUR

Table of Contents

Title Page

Introduction

Chapter 1: Genes

Chapter 2: Robots

Chapter 3: Energy

Chapter 4: The Internet

Chapter 5: Nanotechnology

Chapter 6: Food

Chapter 7: Computers

Chapter 8: Space

Conclusion

Footnotes

By the same authors

Copyright

About the Publisher

INTRODUCTION

Are you ready to be innovated?

Are you ready for a world of kids making their own pets with gene-splicing kits? Or food that comes in packets that talk to you about how to cook the contents? While geeky types graft robot limbs onto themselves in a bid to become immortal before blasting off to their holiday homes in space?

You’re not ready. Don’t fool yourself.

The future was meant to come with a capital F – the genetic enhancements, the moon bases, the supercomputers killing all the humans … aaaaaargh! – but then it didn’t arrive. But a whole host of techy advances currently in development hell mean that this time, more than any other time, the future is coming.

Are you ready for the people trying to clone mammoths from frozen DNA? People you actually know – friends of yours – having sex with robots? The wearable computers?

Maybe you are ready for wearable computers. We’ll give you that one.

This book started with idle curiosity about what was taking shape in the world. We suspected something was going down with technology. But a few peeks round the corner rapidly became a series of moments – shared here – of going: fucking hell – really? Our eyes widened, in fear and excitement, and stayed wide for ages.

As it transpires, out there on the fringes of public consciousness, nerds made rich as Croesus by the Internet are joining messianic scientists and military researchers in bringing some mind-bending things to pass. iPhones aren’t even the half of it. The mad professors have got the keys to the genetically modified sweetshop. And we all know what that means. Except we don’t – which is the point.

And while we’re out front in the shop, trying to get our heads round the genetically modified sweets, they’re in the back turning themselves into multi-bodied super-strength cyborgs with spooky telepathic powers. It’s like they’re always one step ahead of us.

In this super new world, it is hard to stay grounded. Even renowned physicists writing pop-science round-ups of current developments will veer madly between sober scientific inquiry and saying how it is our nailed-on ‘destiny’ to become ‘The Gods of Mythology’, and liberally pepper their writing with references to deities and superheroes. But this stuff is so nuts, it is no wonder the scientists start believing they are Thor (during the writing of this book, we too have occasionally had moments of thinking we are Thor … we actually might be Thor – can two people be Thor?).

In this book we sceptically scour the labs, the theories, the freaky cults, the Internet mega-corporateers who all ride scooters around, indoors … and ask questions like: don’t all the people who go to space come back mad? Are GM crops such a headfuck because the people who make them are such utter bastards, yet the people who oppose them are such hippy mentalists? And also, how long will it be before we hear the tragic question: ‘Mummy? Why is Daddy sleeping in the robot’s room?’

Some of what is happening promises great things for humanity. Some of it promises the end of humanity. So it’s worth paying attention. Otherwise we will leave our fate in the hands of adults who ride scooters indoors. They ride around on scooters indoors, but hold in their hands the power to change human nature itself.

What have we done?

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