Visions Of The Future – The Intelligence Revolution
This documentary celebrates the possibility that we are entering a period where science will change from discovery about the word to mastery over it. In a world of post millennial global warming, peak oil and impending Malthusian crises its a touching piece of optimism.
This world view is logically in direct opposition to something like the Green movement, because what it is suggesting, is that the environment is something we can control rather than defer to. It could be argued that our only way out of global environmental catastrophe is to hit the gas.
Of course none of these political issues come into play here, but it would be an interesting way to stir up complacency on both sides of the spectrum, by pitting the opposition to the Green movement as being something whose tone is liberal, mystical and positive, rather like this film.
I am in favor of environmentalism, but think that with it we have to accept that we will return to a dystopian, feudal past as a payoff to save the planet for other species.
The film is presented by Michio Kaku who made a name for himself as a popularizer of science, in the media. Which is odd, because he’s not a great presenter but is a truly great physicist, being, amongst other things, one of the co-inventors, as it were, of String Theory.
If you can get through the excruciating platitudes of the opening of this documentary the substance is really good.
(This is the first in a 3 part series).
51 min 54 sec Dec 11, 2007