Angus McIntyreMay 2, 2024

This excellent article by @molly0xfff reminded me of the sci-fi trope where everyone in the future lives in a domed bunker & gets told not to go outside because it's a wasteland filled with Bad People.

Of course the protagonists leave the dome & find that the reality is a bit different: outside can be scary, but it's not the hellscape they were told.

Big Tech walled gardens are the dome; outside them is a risky wonderland that’s ours for the taking.

Leave the dome.

https://www.citationneeded.news/we-can-have-a-different-web/

We can have a different web

Many yearn for the “good old days” of the web. We could have those good old days back — or something even better — and if anything, it would be easier now than it ever was.

Citation Needed
Show threadTheo Honohan
@angusm @molly0xfff I'm thinking of The Machine Stops, Logan's Run and THX1138. I think there are some current TV series that play with this as well?
May 3, 2024 at 1:33pmWeb
Show threadAngus McIntyreMay 3, 2024

@theohonohan “Fallout” and “Silo” fit the model. So does the first episode of “Blake’s 7”.

I’m sure I’ve encountered other examples.

It’s about security vs. liberty; the ‘utopian’ enclave society is always very controlling & often based on deceiving those inside about the possibility of alternatives (or the purpose/origin of the enclave).

I’d expect to find it in YA; the choice of the fertile wilderness vs. the sterile dome can be read as rejection of parental authority, a core YA theme.