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With the excessive hype and fear mongering around AI and the Metaverse, there is a real need for objective analysis to create clarity. Our Next Reality debates the risks and merits, providing actionable suggestions for how all of us can help tilt the future towards a more utopian outcome

Andelman and Fredrick interview Neal Stephenson, one of the world's premier authors of science fiction. Among other things, Stephenson talks about the greatest single unknown people may be heading toward, something new coming along that will change civilization, and some unknown that could effectively become a universal panacea. Adapted from the source document.

Technology and society have been interconnected since the dawn of civilization. Literature has always served as an active medium to represent the interaction between these two fields. Fiction often utilizes technology as a backdrop for exploring societal conflicts. Science fiction, in particular, frequently depicts the complex interactions between technology and civilization. Nanopunk emerges as a significant genre within the realm of fiction, wherein the potential advantages and drawbacks of nanotechnology are explored within the imaginative landscapes of nanopunk narratives. This subgenre, a derivative of cyberpunk or biopunk, highlights forms of nanotechnology referred to as nano or nanites. Literature assumes a crucial role in depicting the nuances of nanopunk reality. In 1995, Neal Stephenson published his seminal science fiction novel, "The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer." This novel delves into the intricate relationship between literature and technology within a dystopian future heavily influenced by molecular nanotechnology. Through its narrative, the novel raises pertinent questions regarding power dynamics and the sociological impacts of technological integration in a futuristic setting. This paper seeks to analyze the implications of these emerging technologies as portrayed through fiction and their potential effects on contemporary society and future generations. It concludes that literature, culture, and fiction will continue to wield significant influence in shaping societal perceptions and attitudes towards the future of nanotechnology.

Understanding the space deployed by communication technologies requires a political thinking that faces the new challenges posed by digital mediascape. Use these technologies without grasping the political feature, without deciphering the new conflicts that they stage, it means, on the one hand, remain subservient to the narcotic power of technology and, on the other, lack the dimension of contemporary politics. Many pre-texts related to the science fiction genre can be useful to develop such a reflection. Among the many stories, comics, films that lend themselves to the purpose, one of the founding texts was the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson: it is still useful as a guide to understand the relationship between space of flows and space of places, the conflicts necessary to emergence of new subjectivities (hackers), the unfolding of a scene open to a plurality of distributions of the sensible. ; Comprendere lo spazio dispiegato dalle tecnologie di comunicazione richiede un pensiero politico all'altezza delle nuove sfide poste dal mediascape digitale. Utilizzare queste tecnologie senza coglierne la cifra politica e cioè senza decifrare i nuovi conflitti che esse mettono in scena significa, da un lato, rimanere asserviti al potere narcotico della tecnica e, dall'altro, mancare la dimensione della politica contemporanea. Possono essere utili a sviluppare una tale riflessione pre-testi espressivi legati al genere fantascienza. Tra i tanti racconti, fumetti, film che si prestano allo scopo, uno dei testi fondativi è stato il romanzo Snow Crash di Neal Stephenson: vale ancora come utile guida per affrontare il rapporto tra spazio dei flussi e spazio dei luoghi, i conflitti necessari all'emergere di nuove soggettività (gli hacker), il dispiegarsi di una scena aperta a una pluralità di partizioni del sensibile. ; Compreender o espaço utilizado pelas tecnologias de comunicação requer um pensamento político que confronte os novos desafios colocados pelo horizonte de media digital. Usar essas tecnologias sem entender a sua característica política, i.e., sem decifrar os novos conflitos que elas apresentam, significa, por um lado, permanecer submisso ao poder narcótico da tecnologia, e por outro lado, recusar-se a ver a dimensão da política contemporânea. Entre várias histórias, quadrinhos, filmes que se prestam a esse papel, um dos textos fundadores foi o romance Snow Crash de Neal Stephenson: ainda hoje se apresenta como um guia útil para compreender a relação entre espaço de partilhas [space of flows] e espaço de lugares, os conflitos necessários à emergência de novas subjetividades (hackers) e o desabrochar de uma cena que se abre à pluralidade das distribuições do sensível.