6 dystopian ideas that have come true

The essence of dystopia is to show what attempts to build an ideal world with rigid rules and restrictions can lead to. These stories sometimes seem absurd and grotesque, and sometimes frighteningly prophetic. This is what has already been embodied.

1. Social rating

The first episode of the third season of "Black Mirror" ("Dive") showed a world in which people rate each other not only on social networks, but also in real life. The rating is formed from these estimates. Those who have a low level turn into outcasts, cannot buy a plane ticket or rent an apartment that they like.

Something similar is described in the teenage dystopia of the Dutch writer Marlus Morshuis “Shadows of Radovar». There, the rating is earned by exemplary behavior, shock work, good grades at school, loyalty to the rules. The number of points determines whether the family will live in a normal apartment on the upper floors of a skyscraper or huddle in a basement cell without windows.

"Dive" was released in 2016, "Shadows of Radovar" - two years later. And then, in 2018, several cities in China launched

China has started ranking citizens with a creepy ‘social credit’ system - here’s what you can do wrong, and the embarrassing, demeaning ways they can punish you social rating system. This is a complex mechanism for assessing people, which takes into account different parameters: how a citizen pays taxes, how he behaves on the Internet, what he buys, whether he observes the laws, and so on.

China announced the establishment of the systemChina's social credit systems and public opinion: Explaining high levels of approval even earlier, in 2014, so that writers and screenwriters could peep the idea from the Chinese government. But then no one could have guessed the consequences would be so absurd. People, of course, are not sent to the basement due to low scores, but there have been casesChinese blacklist an early glimpse of sweeping new social-credit controlwhen they couldn't get a loan, buy real estate, and even train tickets. Millions of Chinese have beenHow the social trust system works in China various fines and penalties.

2. Reproductive technology and reproductive violence

In the novel by Aldous Huxley "Brave new world"Children for nine months are raised in a vessel -" bottle ", which slowly moves along the conveyor and into which the necessary substances and drugs are injected at different stages of fetal development. In 1932, when the book came out, it did not exist yetA History of Developments to Improve in vitro Fertilization in vitro fertilization, and the first child conceived in a test tube was born only 46 years later. And even more so then they had not yet invented an artificial uterus, which can be considered a full-fledged analogue of the bottle from Huxley's novel.

Now it is already possible in itAn extra-uterine system to physiologically support the extreme premature lamb to grow a premature lamb to the desired term, and the development of a similar device for babies will requireArtificial uterus for premature babies about another 10 years. It is not known whether human reproduction will turn into assembly line production, but overall, Huxley was surprisingly accurate in his predictions.

Dystopias often affect reproductive sphere and describe either new technologies or attempts by the authorities to completely control childbirth. In many stories, in order to have a child, you must first obtain permission, which is given only if the person meets certain criteria. Remember at least “we"Evgenia Zamyatina (the novel was written in 1920) and"1984"George Orwell (1948), a childhood, but rather curious dystopia"Giving"(1993) Lois Lowry and her adaptation with Meryl Streep and Katie Holmes, new series"Through the snow"On Netflix.

In other dystopias, such as Margaret Atwood's 1986 novel “The Handmaid's Tale», The emphasis is on the fact that the birth of a child is not a privilege or a right, but a duty. It cannot be avoided: abortion is prohibited, women are forced to give birth.

In China, since the end of the 1970s, it operated for 35 years.Can China recover from its disastrous one-child policy? state policy “one family - one child”. In different countries, completely or partially prohibitedLouisiana has become the latest US to pass new legislation restricting abortion rights abortion, even if the pregnancy and childbirth threaten the woman's life or the child was conceived through violence or incest.

In countries where abortion is legal, people do not always have the right to take full control of their bodies. For example, in Russia under 35 you cannotArticle 57. Medical sterilization to do medical sterilization without observing certain conditions. In addition, recently there have been attempts to tighten abortion laws - and in RussiaPatriarch Kirill: abortion reduction will increase the country's population by 10 million in 10 years, and in the USA. Women's rights activists wearA Handmaid's Tale of Protest the red cloaks and white caps of the maids from Atwood's novel - and thus draw quite understandable parallels between the plot of the book and real events.

3. Mood modulators

"Soma grams - and no dramas", - repeated the heroes of Huxley, taking catfish pills. This narcotic substance improved mood and made you forget about problems. In the 1968 novel by Philip Dick "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"(Though this is not quite a dystopia) and a mood modulator is described at all, in which you can choose the subtlest shades of emotions like "businesslike attitude to work" or "desire to watch any TV show ”.

All this reminds antidepressantswhich are now available to almost anyone, sometimes even without a prescription. In the USA, back in 2017, they beganAI brain implants that can change a person’s mood are tested on HUMANS by the US military test "mood chips" that affect the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, and therefore emotions. Such devices are supposed to help bring mental illness under control. But who knows, if they will one day become a dope that allows them to always remain efficient, sociable and positive.

4. Tracking and control

This is one of the pillars on which any totalitarian state stands, which means that surveillance of characters in one form or another is present in almost every dystopia. The most striking canonical example is the "TV screens" from "1984". They not only broadcast propaganda, but also continuously watched every human action.

In reality, such a device does not exist, but there is something similar. These are smartphones, tablets, smart speakers and other gadgets. They store our contacts and personal data, collect information about preferences and purchases, about the sites we visit and the places we visit. Who and how uses all this information, we sometimes do not fully know.

On the one hand, data is needed to show ads that will be of interest to us, or to form a smart news feed. On the other hand, social networks have already been caughtNSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others in secret cooperation with special services, and laws sometimes directly oblige to provideYandex has confirmed the availability of a solution for encryption keys for the FSB law enforcement authorities information about users. In this sense, we are not too different from the heroes of Orwell, except that we give information to Big Brother voluntarily.

5. Scheduled walks

In May 2020, when, due to the self-isolation regime, Muscovites walked according to the schedule, there was a lot of irony on this topic, but something similar was already in the books. In the novel "Shadows of Radovar", the inhabitants of the metropolis are almost not allowed to leave the skyscrapers, because nature is dirty and dangerous, and walks cause illness. Heroes spend in the park no more than an hour a week according to a special schedule, which is compiled taking into account the house number and social status.

There are similar stories in other works. In Zamyatin, the United State is separated from nature by the Green Wall, beyond which it is forbidden to go. In the books of Orwell, Huxley and Bradbury, the state does not approve of walks, because a person who walks slowly and spends time alone, there is clearly an opportunity to think and analyze situation.

6. Euthanasia

In Lois Lowry's dystopia, The Giver, weak children and the elderly are excluded from society in order to keep society at the same level and so that literally everyone is useful. In the little-known dystopia of the 19th century American politician Ignatius Donnelly "Column of Caesar" (1891), special institutions appear where anyone can voluntarily die.

Often writers deliberately exaggerate the colors in books, but in reality something similar is already happening. Iceland could be the first country to not have children with Down syndrome. If this pathology is found in the fetus, the pregnancy is terminated in most cases. Of course, with the consent of the woman, but not without some pressure from doctors and the state as a whole. Icelandic geneticist Kari Stefansson believes"What kind of society do you want to live in?": Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearingthat there is nothing wrong with "inspiring people to have healthy offspring", but, in his opinion, doctors give "tough advice" on genetics and thus influence decisions that go beyond medicine.

In several countries - the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada - allowedDeath on demand: has euthanasia gone too far? euthanasia, or rather, “assisted withdrawal from life” at the request of a person. De jure, it is necessary for him to experience unbearable suffering that cannot be dealt with. But de facto the boundaries of the concept of "unbearable suffering" began to gradually blur: it includes not only fatal and painful diseases, but also depression.

In the Netherlands in 2016, a discussion unfoldedThe Netherlands wants to allow euthanasia for those who believe they have lived enough on the topic of whether it is worth allowing euthanasia for those who consider their life expectancy to be sufficient, that is, mainly for elderly people who are simply tired of living.

What do you think, what ideas and technologies from dystopias have already been implemented?