In Quest of Utopia
A “utopia” is a perfect society, a perfect world. Scholars, thinkers, and philosophers for ages have considered the concept of utopia and have even offered their ideas about how to actually make one happen. Now it’s your turn.
Choose one modern-day problem with our society. Then, offer your solution for solving this problem. Your solution must address the complexities of the problem you choose. Your solution may not involve a miracle or godly intervention. Your solution must be based in the human realm, meaning that it must involve a human-based technology (even one not invented yet—but you must explain what this technology will do in specific terms), human-based politics, human-based psychology, and/or human-based whatever.
In your write-up, please explain what the problem you chose is. Explain the complexities of your problem and why it is so problematic. Then explain your solution in detail. Again, if you plan on using a technology or other idea not yet invented or actualized, you must carefully and clearly explain what this new technology/etc. is in terms we will understand. Finally, consider what new (or not so new) problems might result if your solution is implemented and works.
Abbreviated example of the above assignment:
Problem: Universal health care is not available and is cost-prohibitive to our government. This is especially problematic to those people who are not able to afford health care for themselves and loved ones, and in turn is problematic for our society because the general state of health in our country is not as high as it could be with available medical technology.
Proposed Solution: Develop highly-sophisticated nanotechnology that is organic in nature so that it is compatible with human bodies and can run off the natural bio-electric current created by the body. Nanotechnology is essentially single-atom sized machines that have the capability to repair and prevent wear and tear on the human body at the sub-cellular level. Cancer would be eradicated. DNA corruption and genetic diseases would be corrected. Viral and bacterial diseases would be destroyed more efficiently. Aging would become a thing of the past. Every human being could be treated with these nano-machines, which would be self-replicating so that when one machine wore out, another would be replicated. All humans in our society would only require a one-time treatment. While the technology might be expensive to develop and then to use, since each human would only need to be treated once, the cost is justified. Also, future generations would not need this treatment because new fetuses in treated women would automatically receive self-replicating nano-machines through the mother’s placenta. In short, these nano-machines would become our new health care system, reducing significantly the need for hospitals, doctors, and other treatments we currently rely on. It would allow for an extremely affordable and self-generating universal health care system.
Possible Problems resulting from Solution:
#1: Over-population. With a significantly reduced death rate (for only catastrophic traumas, radiation exposure, and a few other causes might result in death), the population would continue to regenerate at an increased exponential rate that could easily exceed our planetary resources.
#2: Immortality. Our newly almost immortal population will need psychological support to cope with the demands of living, quite possibly, forever.
#3: To share or not to share. Once our society has this technological ability, the political and ethical question becomes: Do we share this technology with other societies?