This is the first entry from my journal documenting recent explorations of a new world known as Cytopia. You can find out more at http://cytopia.xyz
“In Cytopia, people no longer feel anxiety around technological advancements, just pure optimism.”
I am quite unsure as to where I go from here.
There was heavy fog this morning on Alexanderplatz which obscured most of my view. After a lengthy registration, the conference kicked off with philosophical musings that seemed to rattle some. I decided to spend some time alone trying the technical demonstrations, many of these promised to transport you to another reality, or at least bring parts of another reality into the current context. The mostly white males demonstrating their products and services seemed earnest enough, if somewhat corporate. They were appropriately dressed to sell their ideas and these ideas were usually relevant and solved some kind of problem. I was just always left thinking why their applications of such technology was quite so formal and direct.
It was during this time that I ran into Gem. Alongside the folks in suits with honest smiles, her shaved head, piercings and neon sportswear suggested she was some kind of elaborate projection from an underground rave somewhere else in the city. She did not belong.
Turned out she was a real person. We spent several hours discussing our projects, work and thoughts about the world. It was a relief to meet her. She seemed to be particularly optimistic with a dry and dark sense of humour. Which is why I am quite unsure what to think of what she told me later.
I think it was after we had grabbed another glass of cheap sparkling wine when she told me about Cytopia, “A place where people thought about the effects this technology would have on us, and created accordingly.” According to her it sits in a parallel dimension and is a reality that sprang out of a schism in the mid-1990s when the internet or rather world wide web was becoming increasingly mainstream. She said the people there seemed to enjoy a very different relationship with technology; “In Cytopia, people no longer feel anxiety around technological advancements, just pure optimism.”
She seemed reluctant to say much more. I pressed her for instructions on how I could pay this Cytopia a visit and after a lot of persistence, she said she would think about it overnight. It sounds promising. Dreamy. Though it may all just be an elaborate ruse. Though it is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for. An antidote to everything else.
It sounds a lot like More’s utopia. The difficulty with utopia, as More no doubt realised, and subsequent seekers have found as well, is an inherent link to dystopia. Indeed it is difficult to talk about utopia without arousing snap reactions about unattainability. The fact that it literally is derived from the greek for ‘nowhere’ does not aid its cause.
Still I can’t help but think, perhaps if technology was used differently, a new kind of utopia may be achievable. Or at least help us towards a better direction.
