<![CDATA[Axiom 1: We are living in the future.]]>Axiom 1: We are living in the future.

Axiom 2: The future *really* sucks.

By induction: the next future will suck even harder.

By SF author brain: if this goes on, how sucky a future can I imagine?

(I mean, we've already gotten to live in a planet ruled by fricken' Bond Villains, how hard can you go?)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/542e7194-680f-42c5-90fc-936ec1bfa931/axiom-1-we-are-living-in-the-future.RSS for NodeSat, 02 May 2026 10:04:24 GMTFri, 01 May 2026 20:47:00 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Sat, 02 May 2026 02:25:00 GMT]]>@cstross (Spits coffee)BOND VILLAINS?? These people are the village idiots on drugs!!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/megatronicthronbanks/statuses/116502606670301656https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/megatronicthronbanks/statuses/116502606670301656Sat, 02 May 2026 02:25:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Sat, 02 May 2026 01:37:40 GMT]]>@HighlandLawyer @cstross Far too much long term planning. Oligarchies are unspeakably terrible at planning, never mind long term logistical planning.

They do fashion; they do greed. They do power and control.

And public health is dead.

In the bleak even more capitalist future, there will be innumerable competing prettiness viruses seeking to improve you.

After a few cycles of infection, all the oligarchs are so very happy because no one ever complains.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://canada.masto.host/users/graydon/statuses/116502420571512128https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://canada.masto.host/users/graydon/statuses/116502420571512128Sat, 02 May 2026 01:37:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Sat, 02 May 2026 00:32:30 GMT]]>@driusan @cstross You know what the universe teaches ME to be way too low since way longer than 6yrs? My imagination of how utterly stupid, selfish and reckless mankind really is.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/blausand/statuses/116502164317935927https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/blausand/statuses/116502164317935927Sat, 02 May 2026 00:32:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Sat, 02 May 2026 00:10:32 GMT]]>@keithzg That could be the Elijah Baley books when I think about it. Our future has all this wilful stupidity that Isaac Asimov never could have imagined. Even the inhabitants of Solaria don't capture the current state of affairs when it comes to intellectual honesty and lack of curiosity. @cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116502077927465949https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116502077927465949Sat, 02 May 2026 00:10:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Sat, 02 May 2026 00:03:03 GMT]]>@cstross Dick Tracey villains seems the obvious answer.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/arrens/statuses/116502048532179964https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/arrens/statuses/116502048532179964Sat, 02 May 2026 00:03:03 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:50:21 GMT]]>@mattly @joshsusser Prime video has it as Nine Queens

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/johnb/statuses/116501998583366677https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://sfba.social/users/johnb/statuses/116501998583366677Fri, 01 May 2026 23:50:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:46:54 GMT]]>@keithzg Yes! a self-sustaining island-state of in-bred nepo-babies. Kicks off with the smart-mansions malfunctioning so they have to venture on to the mainland, or maybe some random fisherman finds them. @cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501984970935271https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501984970935271Fri, 01 May 2026 23:46:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:42:44 GMT]]>@hakona @cstross

I think one key difference between now and the 70s (which was also arguably a tipping point and resulted in some change) is that the technologies we need readily exist now and just need scaling up.

I have to believe we'll get there, just to keep sane in the face of madness.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.bike/users/Pionir/statuses/116501968622320955https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.bike/users/Pionir/statuses/116501968622320955Fri, 01 May 2026 23:42:44 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:41:29 GMT]]>@Pionir The maddening thing is that so much of this makes sense. 15-minute city, renewables acceleration, holding people to account, all seems logical, realistic, sensible, *rewarding* both short-term and long term. @cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501963671467486https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501963671467486Fri, 01 May 2026 23:41:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:39:31 GMT]]>@hakona @cstross Also remembering that plutocrat who built a hideout bunker in New Zealand. He fled there at the start of COVID and... found he could not get inside his bunker. Hoping he was pecked to death by keas, or something suitably unpleasant (being NZ rather than Australia, earthquakes or volcanoes are much more plausible forms of death than wildlife).

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501955984973529https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501955984973529Fri, 01 May 2026 23:39:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:38:15 GMT]]>@Pionir I've been joking that this might be where we're going. This time is really a tipping point. I have a hunch if we start believing this, it won't happen. @cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501951019941642https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501951019941642Fri, 01 May 2026 23:38:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:37:38 GMT]]>@hakona @cstross on the upside, the fully automated mansions wouldn't keep running any longer than the next software patch or subscription fee increase. No Ray Bradbury planet-after-hoomins here!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501948558797427https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501948558797427Fri, 01 May 2026 23:37:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:34:11 GMT]]>@joshsusser oh which reminds me, if you can find a version of it with subtitles (or you speak really good Spanish), the movie Nueve Reinas by Argentinian director Fabián Bielinsky is one of the finest heist dramas ever made.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/mattly/statuses/116501934966246178https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/mattly/statuses/116501934966246178Fri, 01 May 2026 23:34:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:33:41 GMT]]>@oddhack Yes, worst case would absolutely include famines, plagues, and *all* available resources (public and private) squandered on failed mega-projects. The plague and the supply-chain failurees would hit *everybody*, including the wealthy. Vibe-coded infrastructure would have "vaccine sceptic" know-it-alls literally lying rotting in their malfunctioning fully automated mansions. Worst-case extrapolations from present day would be rejected by any publisher as too unbelievable. @cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501933011521143https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://im.alstadheim.no/users/hakona/statuses/116501933011521143Fri, 01 May 2026 23:33:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:18:36 GMT]]>@cstross The sad thing is they’re more like Austin Powers villains. Cartoonish fascists.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cville.online/users/crow/statuses/116501873704012999https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cville.online/users/crow/statuses/116501873704012999Fri, 01 May 2026 23:18:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:08:53 GMT]]>@cstross go worse than Warhammer 40k

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/ap/users/115602245324882913/statuses/116501835481358602https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/ap/users/115602245324882913/statuses/116501835481358602Fri, 01 May 2026 23:08:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:04:33 GMT]]>@cstross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://pdx.social/users/mossyfoot/statuses/116501818442865320https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://pdx.social/users/mossyfoot/statuses/116501818442865320Fri, 01 May 2026 23:04:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 23:03:43 GMT]]>@cstross you may have trouble topping my vision. *I* may have trouble.

Imagine the techbros and LLMs winning and getting their 'utopia' where people get 'paid' in 'tokens' for a chatbot eating it's own carefully reworked excretions for 10 years.

This was a REALLY bad idea to write in hindsight.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://weird.autos/users/rootwyrm/statuses/116501815227273090https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://weird.autos/users/rootwyrm/statuses/116501815227273090Fri, 01 May 2026 23:03:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:46:00 GMT]]>@cstross
Charlie.

You called out the damned Torment Nexus, do NOT go handing them Torment 2.0, TNaaS or shit like that, mmm-kay?

I'm having enough trouble keeping the bottom-feeding slop-horrors off the café patio there at wandering.shop.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/johannab/statuses/116501745551464595https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://cosocial.ca/users/johannab/statuses/116501745551464595Fri, 01 May 2026 22:46:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:45:06 GMT]]>@cstross Ray Bradbury already wrote it.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/JaneImber/statuses/116501742017789311https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/JaneImber/statuses/116501742017789311Fri, 01 May 2026 22:45:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:44:17 GMT]]>@cstross Bond villains believe in science. For Evil, but still actual science. Rockets, lasers, orbital docking and retrieval... we have Lysenko and Stalin cosplayers.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501738766363184https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/oddhack/statuses/116501738766363184Fri, 01 May 2026 22:44:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:21:13 GMT]]>@cstross Don't ask a question you don't want an answer to, is my advice.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://nerdculture.de/users/bthylafh/statuses/116501648635469937https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://nerdculture.de/users/bthylafh/statuses/116501648635469937Fri, 01 May 2026 22:21:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:19:33 GMT]]>@Gabs
*plonk*

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/toolbear/statuses/116501641528033025https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tech.lgbt/users/toolbear/statuses/116501641528033025Fri, 01 May 2026 22:19:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Axiom 1: We are living in the future. on Fri, 01 May 2026 22:18:18 GMT]]>@cstross in the future, scifi will be steampunk. Everything gets taken down a notch. Thankfully however, reality tv ceases to exist. Though the running man is real, so there's that.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hear-me.social/ap/users/115696907373093865/statuses/116501636628715500https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hear-me.social/ap/users/115696907373093865/statuses/116501636628715500Fri, 01 May 2026 22:18:18 GMT