Existential Hope Special: Ada Palmer | On How Speculative Worlds Can Help Us Demand A Better Future
Jan 31, 2025
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In a captivating discussion, historian and sci-fi author Ada Palmer explores how speculative fiction can inspire governance and societal progress. She argues that our ability to imagine radically different futures empowers us to demand change. Ada highlights the power of pluralism as a solution to centralized governance and emphasizes learning from historical public health successes like malaria eradication. She also underscores the necessity of balancing good and bad news to combat despair, advocating for resilience and creative education for a better future.
Speculative fiction serves as a vital framework for reimagining governance and societal structures, encouraging citizens to aspire for transformative changes.
Historical narratives provide essential insights that enrich speculative worlds, illustrating how societies can successfully navigate technological and ideological shifts.
An optimistic perspective that celebrates progress while addressing setbacks fosters resilience, enabling communities to engage actively with current global challenges.
Deep dives
The Interconnection of History and Sci-Fi
Ada Palmer discusses the inherent relationship between her work as a historian and her passion for science fiction writing. While history examines the past and science fiction envisions the future, both domains explore the vast spectrum of human experience and societal change over time. She emphasizes that understanding historical narratives provides valuable insights into possible futures, highlighting how past societies have navigated transformations driven by new ideas and technologies. This interplay allows for a richer storytelling framework, where the lessons drawn from history can inform imaginative worlds and speculative futures.
The Role of Speculative Fiction in Society
Speculative fiction serves as a powerful tool for societal engagement, prompting discussions on future possibilities. Palmer highlights the historical context of how ideas from past utopian movements inform present aspirations for change, contrasting it with today’s vast array of alternate realities presented in literature. By showcasing multiple scenarios—including utopian and dystopian outcomes—speculative narratives broaden the public's palette for envisioning societal structures. This increased imaginative capacity can empower citizens to demand and pursue transformative changes in governance and technology.
Warnings and Ethical Considerations in Technology
The conversation touches on the ethical implications of emerging technologies, with science fiction acting as both a cautionary tale and an ethical guide. Palmer points out that speculative narratives often preemptively address potential consequences of technological advancements, enabling society to engage in moral deliberation before implementation. For instance, the consideration of rights for artificial intelligences has been explored in fiction long before relevant technologies became a reality, allowing for philosophical groundwork to be established. This ensures that society is somewhat prepared to handle the complexities and ethical dilemmas posed by new innovations.
Education as the Foundation for Democratic Engagement
Palmer argues that a robust educational system is essential for the functioning of democracy, advocating for an approach that emphasizes critical thinking and widespread access to knowledge. She contrasts historical perspectives on education with modern practices that often reduce learning to standardized testing, ultimately undermining the depth of understanding required for informed political participation. By investing in education that empowers citizens, societies can enhance their capability to make wise political choices and actively engage in governance. This educational investment serves as a bulwark against the risks of oligarchy and political stagnation.
Finding Hope Amidst Global Challenges
Amid discussing historical and current global challenges, Palmer emphasizes the importance of recognizing both progress and setbacks in health, governance, and societal well-being. She encourages an optimistic perspective that acknowledges the advancements made, such as eradicating diseases and improving life expectancy, while also advocating for continual efforts in addressing present issues. By focusing on successes as a source of motivation and learning, communities can foster resilience and agency in the face of adversity. This balance between hope and realism cultivates an environment where social progress can thrive, empowering individuals and groups to take action.
"We’ve saved the world so many times throughout history. Now we just have to do it again."
What if speculative fiction could do more than entertain—what if it could reshape how we think about governance, technology, and societal progress? In this episode of the Existential Hope Podcast, historian and sci-fi author Ada Palmer discusses how we can harness lessons from both history and fiction to reimagine what’s possible for humanity.
Ada argues that one of the most critical advantages we have over past generations is our ability to envision a future radically different from our present. Unlike Renaissance thinkers limited by their own history, today’s societies can draw from an endless array of speculative worlds—both utopian and dystopian—to expand the horizons of what we dare to demand.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Ada digs into everything from concrete ideas for how to govern in a more pluralistic, adaptable world, to the importance of storytelling in addressing existential risks, exploring:
Why pluralism might be the antidote to centralized, one-size-fits-all governance and how speculative fiction shows us ways to make it work.
How past and present technological advancements—like eradicating malaria—can inspire hope for tackling today’s most urgent challenges.
What makes despair the ultimate barrier to progress, and how celebrating successes can keep us moving forward.
Existential Hope was created to collect positive and possible scenarios for the future so that we can have more people commit to creating a brighter future, and to begin mapping out the main developments and challenges that need to be navigated to reach it. Existential Hope is a Foresight Institute project.
