Topic for Jan. 26. ( Tue )

[Alex !]

Protopia 

Protopia is a state that is better than today than yesterday, although it might be only a little better. Protopia is much much harder to visualize. Because a protopia contains as many new problems as new benefits, this complex interaction of working and broken is very hard to predict.

Protopia is a term that was coined by the an American thinker (or “Futurist”) Kevin Kelly. Since Utopia is a fantasy that can’t be reached (a) it would be boring to live in an Utopia and b) does my Utopia looks like yours? No.), Kelly came up with Protopia, which would be the realistic opposite to Dystopia:

We displace ourselves in a state where the uncomfortable gives us a rush of endorphins, excitement, joy, happiness.. along side anxiety, pressure, panic and stress (go figure).

But of that which we seek, in our Protopian state, we’re seeking the better self-betterment rather than self-improvement. We loathe perfection to a point where the word ‘perfect’ is abused and misplaced instead of ‘good’ or a simple positive notion.

In every opportunity that we have, there is a desire for better. It’s an endless chase that will outlive us all. It will never see completion in our generation or even our lifetime. That’s a harsh reality that we as a global community must face.

What’s interesting is the concept of ‘Protopia’ is so close to reality – it’s disturbing.

We enabled ourselves to be engaged with the ‘best of’ everything in every aspect of life. Right to the degree of subscription.

We know they’ve been engineered to last for only a limited time. The demand is artificially created by social expectations and it’s evident that as technology progresses by the literal second, the rate of maturity is distinctively high.

We seek opportunity. Whether it’s the opportunity to advance in our careers, to fall in love, to build something that represents who we are, to leave our footprints in the world, to feel alive.. as a generation of ‘new age’ thinking, we can only fathom value in opportunity.

Every opportunity to create something new, something faster, something ‘better’ – creates a new world of problems that we would have never initially created. This is not a bad thing, some problems are good to have.

That is the consequence of growth and the generation gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials is a division fuelled by the development of Baby Boomers, reacted by Millennials.

All of this of course, leads us to a better place tomorrow filled with better opportunity and a wider selection of decisions with an ever-growing capacity to think beyond the confinements of our digital displays.

We’re here today to program a better tomorrow. Even if there’s a new set of problems, challenges and roadblocks, make the most of it today so that greatness might *just* be within reach of our lifetime.