Cheetahs On My Feet

Watching Technopalypse, and for that matter talking about he future, and what life will be like as technology becomes more advanced, one gets the feeling that when the future is a distinct place, and once it gets here, everyone will realize it. However, people don't seem to realize that life changes in small and nearly imperceptible ways. People are rarely genuinely surprised when new forms of technology change their lives.

However, reading Ribofunk is an excellent source for understanding this. Those in the stories do not simply wander around talking about how futuristic everything is. They simply live their lives within the new constructs. Besides, though the technology available to these future citizens is mind boggling, their lives seem more affected on the day to day basis by the aesthetic and cultural possibilities, rather than what I imagine as more 'constructive' opportunities.

One excellent examples this gives us can be taken from the first chapter of Ribofunk. Teenagers use gene enhancing chemicals that heighten their senses to a degree that things never before possible can be easily achieved, but use them for the same sorts of juvenile 'nonsense' a today's teenagers .

Though the cultural aspects of Ribofunk's science are overwhelming on the personal basis, the author also gives a striking view of the governmental and business effects of genetic modification and engineering. It is a fact that the creation of most technology is created for capitalist gain. The future that we see in Ribofunk has obviously been pioneered by big business, and even more than today, Non-Governmental Organizations are possibly more powerful than any country. In fact, the only current institutions that can be found in Ribofunk's future are the NGO's like the IMF and the WTO.

Out of all the materials we have been given, I think that Ribofunk offers the most plausible illustration of what the future has in store for a world citizen. Unlike Technopalypse, Ribofunk doesn't try to sell as a heaven or hell like vision of the future, it simply forges the future and the present into a probable marriage of culture and technology.