Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

Devastating famines, mega-droughts, wars and plagues, both natural and not, are all possible, even likely. But they are not inevitable; enlightened statecraft, open societies, international solidarity, overhauled medicine, respect for human rights and the wise and accountable use of technology could help us not only avoid the worst of our future but also build on its best prospects.

In left-leaning science-fiction circles you increasingly come across Alasdair Gray's exhortation to "work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation", advice which remains applicable however bad the outlook. In that Rees's timely warnings underline the need for the sort of participatory optimism Gray describes, they are useful. They would have been even more welcome, though, if he had offered a little more by way of strategies for survival.