0:07
who would have thought that 200

0:09
000 years of human evolution would lead

0:11
us here

0:12
to the dystopian era i mean dystopia

0:16
used to mean

0:17
fictional stories about the future where

0:19
everything is just

0:20
bad where humans and nature are

0:22
subjugated and controlled

0:24
by a cruel and heartless authoritarian

0:27
state

0:28
well dystopia has moved from the realm

0:30
of fiction into our current reality

0:33
as we witness the convergence of the

0:35
worldwide climate crisis and the

0:37
pandemic disease

0:39
the rise in global authoritarianism and

0:42
our surrender to being under constant

0:44
surveillance

0:46
next level jim crow mass incarceration

0:49
and militarized policing

0:51
not to mention the normalization of

0:53
children in

0:54
cages and human sex trafficking

0:58
i'd say this is it we're living in the

1:01
dystopia

1:03
so now the question is how do we get

1:06
ourselves out of here

1:08
how do we shift our story in a different

1:10
direction

1:12
fortunately there are many brilliant

1:14
people organizations and movements

1:16
all over the world working to bring this

1:19
shift on many levels

1:21
but what appears to be missing is a

1:23
unified strategy

1:24
to derail the dystopian narrative that

1:27
has seized and

1:28
colonized our imagination

1:32
because dystopian storytelling has

1:34
dominated the world of science fiction

1:37
books tv movies and video

1:40
games for generations i see a connection

1:43
between the widespread popularity of

1:46
dystopian

1:47
science fiction and the actual dystopias

1:50
being experienced now on earth

1:56
in fact the constant barrage of

1:58
high-tech sensationalized dystopian

2:01
entertainment

2:02
is so popular and pervasive our

2:04
imaginations are actually being

2:06
constrained from being able to even

2:09
consider a future

2:10
other than dystopia this is a problem

2:14
because most everything that human

2:16
beings create begins

2:17
in the imagination so for those of us

2:21
who want to see

2:22
humanity move beyond this dystopian era

2:25
we need to bring through new stories

2:28
that create a new lens through which to

2:30
see the future

2:31
new stories that are distinctly

2:34
divergent

2:35
from dystopia dystopian stories are

2:39
about societies that

2:40
are based in supremacism they dehumanize

2:44
and punish

2:45
anyone who is seen as other they use

2:48
various methods of mind control

2:50
including technology and surveillance

2:54
they reward blind obedience and punish

2:56
dissent

2:58
they're callously cruel and violent with

3:01
a systemic

3:01
lack of empathy many dystopian stories

3:05
foretell of a hellish armageddon as

3:07
humanity's ultimate destiny

3:10
and there are psychopaths at the helm

3:14
and all this is sold to us is

3:16
entertainment

3:18
although some dystopian stories are

3:20
meant to be cautionary

3:22
they usually don't offer an alternative

3:24
vision

3:25
and that is what's missing

3:29
the human brain biologically processes

3:31
imagined experiences the same as

3:34
real experiences and that is the power

3:37
of storytelling it's known in the world

3:40
of neuroscience that

3:42
stories affect how our brains function

3:45
they create neural pathways that shape

3:47
our consciousness

3:48
our way of seeing and that influence is

3:51
what we create

3:53
and how we shape our cultures and our

3:55
societies

3:57
the same goes for mythology

4:00
in fact our modern day dystopian stories

4:03
are a continuation of those

4:05
crusty old myths of the ancient world

4:07
those that use violence and cruelty to

4:10
tell their stories

4:11
that proclaim that the end of the world

4:14
is inevitable because human nature is

4:16
inherently evil

4:18
and that male is superior to female

4:21
and that humans are separate from nature

4:23
and meant to dominate

4:25
the natural world these ancient

4:28
religious mythologies have repeated

4:30
through the generations

4:32
deeply in printing themselves in the

4:34
collective psyche

4:36
their psychological influence is

4:38
continuing in the onslaught of

4:40
contemporary dystopian storytelling

4:44
the dystopian narrative that dominates

4:46
the world of science fiction

4:48
entertainment

4:49
is in keeping with the narrative of the

4:51
dominant culture

4:53
so to disrupt that narrative to

4:55
challenge and try to derail it

4:58
is to undermine the dominant culture

5:00
itself

5:03
and it means trying to change the

5:04
public's taste in entertainment

5:07
now that is a tall order can it be done

5:12
i don't know the answer but i do know

5:14
that alternative visions of the future

5:16
are urgently needed

5:18
because real dystopia exists in the

5:21
present

5:22
and it's the only story we have and we

5:25
need a new one

5:28
my background as a daughter of survivors

5:30
of the nazi holocaust informs my

5:32
awareness

5:33
of the real past and present dystopias

5:36
on earth

5:38
i was raised with graphic details of the

5:40
systematic torture

5:41
and extermination of millions of people

5:44
in pursuit of a perfect

5:46
society the nazi holocaust

5:49
ended just 10 years before i was born

5:52
and so it's fresh in my awareness

5:54
and this legacy has set me on a lifelong

5:57
path

5:58
to help figure out the formula that will

6:00
dismantle supremacism

6:02
and create a new blueprint for our

6:04
civilization

6:06
and i see that now is the time to incite

6:09
a new futuristic storytelling strategy

6:13
to derail the dystopian narrative

6:16
to succeed we need to replace dystopia

6:19
with something completely different

6:21
yet equally compelling and entertaining

6:24
we need new stories that will captivate

6:26
and redirect the imagination of our

6:29
culture

6:30
most importantly we need to conjure

6:33
non-dystopian stories that will sell

6:36
to the public so what replaces dystopia

6:41
the first thing that usually comes to

6:42
mind is the idea of utopia

6:45
but utopia is a faulty concept

6:48
first of all the idea of a perfect world

6:51
has

6:51
no entertainment value it just doesn't

6:54
sell

6:55
and besides a perfect society requires

6:59
conformity and control

7:01
so most attempts at utopian storytelling

7:04
devolve

7:05
into dystopia in the end

7:09
so what would a non-dystopian science

7:11
fiction story look like

7:14
as an example here's one of my stories

7:18
let me tell you about max

7:23
max is a 35 year old award-winning

7:26
screenwriter who just won an oscar for

7:29
his

7:30
uniquely intelligent and hilarious

7:33
romantic comedy

7:35
but max has mixed feelings about his

7:37
success because

7:38
all his life max has been an extreme

7:41
idealist

7:42
and he's dreamt of writing the first

7:44
successful utopian screenplay

7:47
an idea for which he receives zero

7:49
support from the people in his life

7:52
his agent and best friend marcus has

7:54
told him

7:55
time and time again that utopia does not

7:58
sell and if max did not stop wasting his

8:02
momentum

8:02
on this utopian nonsense he would ruin

8:06
his career

8:07
forever well one night max is sitting at

8:11
a bar

8:12
doing shots and downloading to the

8:14
bartender his sad story of his

8:16
unfulfilled dream

8:17
when suddenly out of the shadows emerges

8:20
a mesmerizing young woman

8:23
named anna anna sits on the bar stool

8:26
next to max and tells him that she's

8:29
overheard his conversation

8:31
and that she thinks his idea for a

8:33
utopian screenplay is brilliant

8:35
and that he's just the right person to

8:37
do it as max leans into

8:41
anna's hauntingly deep brown eyes she

8:44
hops off the bar stool and trots out the

8:46
door

8:48
matt staggering drunk follows her

8:50
outside

8:52
anna playfully entices him to chase her

8:56
a chase that leads them to a steep

8:57
ravine overlooking a river

9:00
max looks down in awe at the ferocity of

9:03
the rushing river

9:05
and as he turns to anna she's taken off

9:08
her clothes and looking at max daringly

9:12
max looks down again at the wild water

9:15
beneath

9:15
shaking his head just then anna steps

9:18
out and

9:19
dives right in max instinctually dives

9:23
in to save her

9:24
and is instantly transported through a

9:27
wormhole

9:28
into another time in another world

9:31
beyond his wildest imagination

9:35
anna has brought max into the year 2050

9:39
when the world has transitioned to an

9:41
entirely new era

9:43
which they call the empathic era a time

9:46
when

9:46
empathy has become the universal ethos

9:49
of humankind

9:52
so this is utopia right says max

9:56
anna assures him that it's not utopia

9:58
that that doesn't exist

10:00
but that this is the world recovering

10:02
from the dystopian

10:04
era a regenerative world that is

10:06
cleaning up

10:07
after the messes of the past

10:10
anna shows max how multi-generational

10:14
trauma

10:15
had played out to create the dystopias

10:17
of the past

10:19
and how that damaged the human capacity

10:21
for empathy

10:23
until the discovery of a mysterious

10:26
substance

10:26
known only as the empathy contagion

10:30
became the ultimate tool for healing the

10:33
human psyche

10:35
over time as people became adept at

10:38
empathy it became a conduit to telepathy

10:43
telepathy eventually replaced artificial

10:45
intelligence

10:47
and led to inter-species communication

10:51
those that excelled at telepathy learned

10:54
how to levitate

10:55
and eventually to fly and from there

10:58
to travel through time anna was one of

11:01
the most skilled time travelers

11:03
that's why she was sent to bring max

11:05
into the future

11:07
anna tells max that he's been chosen by

11:10
the future

11:11
to help her travel through time and

11:14
spread the empathy contagion

11:16
in order to mitigate the harm and make

11:18
the post-dystopian cleanup

11:20
more manageable there were several

11:23
methods by which to do this

11:25
which includes entering the dreams of

11:27
certain

11:28
influential people like politicians and

11:31
scientists

11:32
and injecting the empathy contagion into

11:34
the emotional epicenters of their brains

11:38
their amygdala anna and max have

11:43
many amazing dangerous and fun

11:46
adventures

11:47
traveling through time and spreading the

11:48
empathy contagion

11:50
they put it in people's bath water in

11:53
their air conditioning systems

11:55
and even in their mocha lattes

11:59
it has the phenomenal effect of healing

12:02
multi-generational trauma in multitudes

12:05
of people

12:06
including certain well-known psychopaths

12:11
to complete their mission max and anna

12:14
help avert a full-scale nuclear war

12:17
that would have destroyed all life on

12:19
earth

12:21
to celebrate their victory anna and max

12:24
make love

12:26
during which they levitate and enter

12:28
inter-dimensional portals of ecstatic

12:31
love and pleasure

12:34
in the morning max is surprised to wake

12:37
up in his bed in his own apartment

12:39
and through his blurry eyes he sees anna

12:42
rushing to get dressed

12:44
uh i just had the weirdest dream

12:47
says max yeah i know right

12:50
says anna but i'm sorry max i gotta go

12:54
i'm really late it was so great being

12:56
with you

12:57
i left my contact info on your dresser

13:00
and with a quick kiss

13:01
she bolts out the door max

13:04
clumsily tries to follow her down the

13:07
hall but

13:08
she appears to have dematerialized

13:14
max returns to his room and picks up the

13:17
card that anna left on his dresser

13:21
on one side it is written

13:24
in spite of everything i still believe

13:27
that people are really good at heart

13:31
and on the other side is a photo of anne

13:35
frank

13:39
max comes to realize that anna

13:42
is anne frank

13:46
and that she had been rescued from the

13:48
concentration camp through a wormhole

13:51
into the future

13:52
to become one of the menders of the

13:54
human story

13:59
well two years later max's new

14:02
screenplay

14:03
the end of dystopia wins the oscar

14:06
for best motion picture and as he stands

14:10
on the stage

14:11
among the all-star cast and crew

14:13
receiving the award

14:15
he sees a hologram of anna

14:18
smiling in the audience

14:24
here i use time travel as a vehicle to

14:27
tell my story

14:28
because time travel is one of the surest

14:31
ways to hurl our imagination

14:33
beyond the dystopian narrative

14:36
it can break through the habitual mind

14:39
and bend it in new directions

14:42
time travel science fiction is a tried

14:44
and true genre

14:45
that has a high probability of success

14:48
in conveying

14:49
new future visions to the world

14:53
our new stories about the future must be

14:55
told in ways

14:56
that are thrilling fun sexy

14:59
romantic that contain elements of

15:03
adventure that are unpredictable yet

15:06
relatable

15:08
that show egalitarian socially just

15:11
societies

15:12
that redefine power that break the

15:15
dysfunctional patterns of the past

15:18
and show how we get from here to there

15:20
from the world as we know it

15:22
to the more idyllic though not perfect

15:26
evolving future world

15:29
science fiction has always had the power

15:31
to direct the course of human destiny

15:34
i learned from a ted talk by nasa chief

15:37
economist dr alex mcdonald

15:39
that space travel was first envisioned

15:42
by the storytellers

15:43
of centuries past and did you know that

15:47
the cell phone was invented in 1972 by

15:50
martin cooper

15:51
after he was inspired by the snazzy flip

15:53
phones on star trek

15:55
look how that changed the world science

15:59
fiction

15:59
can be used to accelerate at warp speed

16:03
a shift from the dystopian blueprint

16:07
and this is where books entertainment

16:10
and especially hollywood can accelerate

16:12
the turning of the tide

16:15
they just need to know we want it so

16:18
let's tell them

16:19
by refusing to consume dystopian

16:22
entertainment

16:23
and by introducing non-dystopian

16:25
storytelling

16:26
as the new trend this is how we can help

16:30
take the reins of the human story

16:33
by redirecting the narrative

16:37
i hear the future calling out to the

16:39
storytellers among us

16:41
and there are many of us to awaken the

16:45
collective imagination to

16:47
best case scenario visions of the future

16:51
our time is now to become the myth

16:54
makers

16:55
of the future thank you

17:08
you