Technological Utopias

The term technological utopia refers in a broad sense to the use of machines and civil engineering to create an ideal society. In ancient Greek, the term utopia means “no-place” but is pronounced as “good place,” making a utopia a nonrealized good place.

Utopias are always presented in a time frame; they are set in the past as a golden age narrative, in the present as a travel narrative, or in the future as a science fiction narrative. Technological utopias are predominantly set in the future. Despite not being in the “here and now,” utopian visions are set in the real world, with ordinary people, and the same natural laws. The potential for utopian visions to become reality is what gives them power. In this sense, ...