The Future for Better or Worse

Phil and Stephen add a positive spin to some otherwise gloomy future scenarios.

Richard Dawkins: A.I. Might Run the World Better Than Humans Do

Will A.I. take us over, and one day look back on this time period as the dawn of their civilization? Richard Dawkins posits an interesting idea, or at the very least a premise to a good science-fiction novel.

Is this the best possible time to be alive? Sounds ludicrous, right?

Human civilization has made immense progress — but it may well have peaked, and now we’re staring into the abyss

What we didn't get

Most famously, the mid-20th century was full of visions of starships, interplanetary exploration and colonization, android servitors and flying cars, planet-busting laser cannons, energy too cheap to meter. So far we don't have any of that. As Peter Thiel - one of our modern cyberpunk arch-villains - so memorably put it, "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters."

GEEKOUT

Hoping to bring VR to the multiplex, AMC joins Spielberg in backing Culver City startup

Dreamscape Immersive, the Culver City-based company co-founded by veteran producer Walter P‎arkes and financed in part by filmmaker Steven Spielberg, has raised $20 million from AMC Entertainment, the companies announced Tuesday, along with an additional $10 million from other parties.

Plus: Orville vs. new Star Trek

Also: Time to get excited about Blade Runner 2049?

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