BETWEEN TECHNOLOGICAL UTOPIA AND DYSTOPIA: GAMES AND SOCIAL PLANNING

Abstract

The author argues that scientific and technological progress opens the new possibilities and creates the new threats for the humanity. In 21st century, the civilization will progress fantastically. As the result, the world around us and all spheres of society will be radically transformed. She discusses the following problem: what to expect from the future - whether our best utopian dreams come true or the worst dystopian scenarios become a reality? In accordance with the first position, science is a power, and the new technological solutions will be found for each emerging problem. According to the other one, technological progress without the development of humans is a source of danger for future. The author discusses an alternative view on the problem. She claims that it is necessary to develop social mechanisms and practices for making scientific progress and social changes manageable. The future depends on the current social practice. Every person today can participate in the planning of future. Technologies provide us with the effective means for dealing with social reality, including those means which are not quite expectable and taken seriously - such as games and gamification techniques. The author disputes with the ideas of Yuval Harari’s “Homo Deus: a Brief History of Tomorrow”. She considers some preconditions for realization of alternative scenarios of future. She concludes that in the future the more people could use better the opportunities and resources of super technological society.