Films from the Future: Twelve Science Fiction Movies About Technology Trends and Society
The complete contents list from the book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies
What can we learn about emerging technologies and society from science fiction movies? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
This is the idea behind my new book Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies (published by Mango).
Here’s the complete contents lineup:
CHAPTER ONE
IN THE BEGINNING
“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that” — HAL
Beginnings • Welcome to the Future • The Power of Convergence • Socially Responsible Innovation • A Common Point of Focus • Spoiler Alert
CHAPTER TWO
JURASSIC PARK: THE RISE OF RESURRECTION BIOLOGY
“God help us, we’re in the hands of engineers!” — Dr. Ian Malcolm
When Dinosaurs Ruled the World • De-Extinction • Could We, Should We? • The Butterfly Effect • Visions of Power
CHAPTER THREE
NEVER LET ME GO: A CAUTIONARY TALE OF HUMAN CLONING
“Who’d make up stories as horrible as that?” — Ruth
Sins of Futures Past • Cloning • Genuinely Human? • Too Valuable to Fail?
CHAPTER FOUR
MINORITY REPORT: PREDICTING CRIMINAL INTENT
“If there’s a flaw, it’s human — it always is” — Danny Witwer
Criminal Intent • The “Science” of Predicting Bad Behavior • Criminal Brain Scans • Machine-Learning Based Precognition • Big Brother, Meet Big Data
CHAPTER FIVE
LIMITLESS: PHARMACEUTICALLY-ENHANCED INTELLIGENCE
“I don’t have delusions of grandeur, I have an actual recipe for grandeur.” — Eddie Morra
A Pill for Everything • The Seduction of Self-Enhancement • Nootropics • If You Could, Would You? • Privileged Technology • Our Obsession with Intelligence
CHAPTER SIX
ELYSIUM: SOCIAL INEQUITY IN AN AGE OF TECHNOLOGICAL EXTREMES
“They are armed, and I’d like them dead” — Carlisle
The Poor Shall Inherit the Earth • Bioprinting our Future Bodies • The Disposable Workforce • Living in an Automated Future
CHAPTER SEVEN
GHOST IN THE SHELL: BEING HUMAN IN AN AUGMENTED FUTURE
“As an autonomous life-form, I request political asylum” — Puppet Master
Through a Glass Darkly • Body Hacking • More than “Human”? • Plugged In; Hacked Out • Your Corporate Body
CHAPTER EIGHT
EX MACHINA: AI AND THE ART OF MANIPULATION
“One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and tools, all set for extinction.” — Nathan Bateman
Plato’s Cave • The Lure of Permissionless Innovation • Technologies of Hubris • Superintelligence • Defining Artificial Intelligence • Artificial Manipulation
CHAPTER NINE
TRANSCENDENCE: WELCOME TO THE SINGULARITY
“You know what the computer did when he first turned it on? It screamed.” — Bree Evans
Visions of the Future • Technological Convergence • Enter the Neo Luddites • Techno-Terrorism • Exponential Extrapolation • Make Believe in the Age of the Singularity
CHAPTER TEN
THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT: LIVING IN A MATERIAL WORLD
“Why can’t you scientists leave things alone? What about my bit of washing, when there’s no washing to do?” — Mrs. Watson
There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom • Mastering the Material World • Myopically Benevolent Science • Never Underestimate the Status Quo • It’s Good to Talk
CHAPTER ELEVEN
INFERNO: IMMORAL LOGIC IN AN AGE OF GENETIC MANIPULATION
“If a plague exists, do you know how many governments would want it and what they’d do to get it?” — Sienna Brooks
Decoding Make Believe • Weaponizing the Genome • Immoral Logic? • The Honest Broker • Dictating the Future
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW: RIDING THE WAVE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
“We were wrong” — Vice President Becker
Our Changing Climate • Fragile States • A Planetary “Microbiome” • The Rise of the Anthropocene • Building Resiliency • Geoengineering the Future
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CONTACT: LIVING BY MORE THAN SCIENCE ALONE
“… okay to go …” — Ellie Arroway
An Awful Waste of Space • More than Science Alone • Occam’s Razor • What if We’re Not Alone?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Looking to the Future
“Don’t panic” — The book
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Films from the Future: The Technology and Morality of Sci-Fi Movies, by Andrew Maynard. Published by Mango. ISBN: 978–1633539075
