The seventh international philosophical and cultural congress
August 27 — 31, 2004, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Section 5: The "hi-tech" culture: a new humanism or the prospects of transhumanism - the probable and the inevitable
A number of reasons cause the interest to future forecasts to decrease in comparison with 1960s-1980s. The interest peaked on the eve of the Millenium, but the increase was merely temporary. Then the interest of both the public and the media shifted away from the future. The coverage of the future-related topics is only sporadic and the general tone has changed from delight and excitement to utilitarian pragmatism.
In this report the author attempts to examine the political, economic, social and technological factors causing the shift in the public’s attention.
The government priorities in Russia have changed considerably after the 1990. Furthermore, the major political forces in Russia appear to lack sufficient understanding of science’s role in the modern society. In Western countries the science is usually financed rather well, but its role is sometimes limited to mere endorsement of politically motivated decisions.
After the collapse of the USSR almost no major research programs were started in Russia, despite the emergence of new growth areas in modern science. Furthermore, poor economic performance slows down the introduction of novel technologies. This can create the impression that the development of such technologies has slowed down or even stopped.
Most public groups have visions of the future and progress, which considerably differs from those of scientists. The propagation of scientific world view depends on the ability of society to rationally evaluate scientific positions. But the media, competing for the attention of public, often loses objectivity in handling the analyses, blurring the line between science and pseudoscience, myths and superstitions. This causes society to doubt the necessity of progress and development, since the fake miracles are apparently already possible. The scientific community has also lost the understanding of its role in the advancement of the humankind, that played such an important role in policy formulation in 1960s-1980s.
When technologies that for many years appeared in future forecasts become reality, the society gets used to them rather quickly, often overlooking the enormous research and development effort that was required.
Besides, the nature of modern technologies makes many forecasts to paint a world considerably different from the present (technological singularity, mind uploading), as opposed to a fascinating, but simple and clear ideas of of 1960s (a helicopter in the garage, holidays on the Moon). Complex theories and images of the future are more difficultl to understand for the society than rather simple (even though a bit naive) forecasts from the middle of the 20-th century.
Today the loss of interest in science coincides with many long promised developments becoming reality. And instead of accepting the boldest forecasts and making a concerted effort to realize them, the society denies the importance of progress, not going beyond the problems of today. But today's problems cannot be solved by yesterday's methods. The countries that refuse science the due attention, are usually left behind by other countries in terms of economic development and quality of life.
Date: May 30, 2004
This text is released into public domain