Why I’m Not a Techie
(But Writing About the Far Future Anyway)
Chapter 11 (Patreon) of Url: On the Extinction of Humans is live! The last few weeks have been heavy on technology research.
Currently reflecting on…
Despite my alternative life being software development and technical program management, I’m not what I’d call a techie, but I am a futurist.
Techies try the latest technologies as soon as possible. They bought Bluetooth headsets in the late ’90s, the first iPhone, laptops in the ’80s, and jumped headfirst into LLMs in the 2020s.
Meanwhile, I’m thinking about what might exist, and I can usually wait until it does.
Or, I want to “shoot the toaster” that apparentally needs the internet, an app, and AI.
My girlfriend asked, “Why do you carry a gun around the house? What are you afraid of?”
I said, “The Decepticons.”
She laughed. I laughed. The toaster laughed.
I shot the toaster.
My first Bluetooth headset was AirPods with Siri integration (2019). My first iPhone was the iPhone 4 (2010). First laptop was the MacBook Pro with unibody construction (2008). And I’m still cautious about how I interact with LLMs.
For context, I worked at an office supply store in the early aughts, in the technology department, and sold all of those technologies.
Effects on 4th Earth
Of all the technology research I’ve been doing over the past few weeks, batteries and no-till farming have intrigued me the most. Most of it won’t appear in Url: On the Extinction of Humans, but it’s building my confidence that the world (4th Earth) I’m projecting 300, 600, and 1,000 years into the future is plausible and feasible.
It’s the clash of discovery writing and outlining, I think.
I’m letting the characters and world reveal themselves to me. But every once in a while, I find myself worried that the science fiction will be too soft and hand-wavy to explain things. At which point, I need to follow a research rabbit hole, even if it’s not covered in depth in the current story.
What technologies do you think will reshape humanity?