Foto NASA/Unsplash Images
The most interesting thing when we talk about technology, of course, is how technology changes and advances human life. This is the discourse that always arises when we discuss innovation, startup, or anything else related to technological progress.
But the other side that is relatively rarely discussed is what drives the advancement of technology itself. Of course, the existence of capital, an appropriate scientific framework, and market needs and potential, are all the main factors that determine the direction of technological exploration.
There is no neutral in determining what innovations are possible, anything that is accepted, everywhere that is rejected. Human cloning, for example - or, the more benign version, genetic modification to get ideal babies (designer babies) - has always been an interesting topic of discussion. How far are we allowed to "play God"?
Or don't need to go far. Only privacy issues, about what rights I give to Facebook, Google and other companies when we interact through social media, upload images, or hunt Pokémon. Or about media censorship, as well as the government's right to monitor us.
Or do you want to go far? This is also fun. What is the fate of human civilization for tens of thousands of years into the future? How can humans form outer space colonies? Maybe at first glance it looks like only imaginary questions, but don't forget that the implications for the present are quite significant.
What fuel will we use, and is it true that we will have access to that material without destroying the planet? Or does it have to destroy the planet, but it doesn't matter because it's a neighboring planet? Then what about artificial intelligence in our navigation system? What are the ethical implications when we make robots with consciousness? Or upload our own awareness into the machine? Or genetically engineer new bodies so we can survive in space?
To discuss this, we cannot simply depend on the market mechanism or the innovation-as-usual atmosphere in the general startup scene. What we need is collaboration between imaginative fiction power and capable technology.
Enter: Sci-Fi Hackathon
Sci-Fi Hackathon is an event where dreamers and technologists collaborate to create an idea prototype within 24 hours. This idea can be anything, provided:
Based on a strong scientific hypothesis, which means not just an idea of a technological miracle without a scientific process that makes it possible and does not violate the applicable laws and theoretical physics.
Give comments about the state of the world in which we live today. Ideas can be solutions, satire, what-ifs, and others that are believed to provide an interesting reflection of the world we live in today.
Why Science Fiction?
It is quite clear that science fiction has more power than more general innovation discourses. The narrative distance created by the context of fiction in this case allows us to see technological innovation and the progress of human civilization in a broader and more critical context.
This is the main purpose of thinking and creating science fiction ideas. If we pay attention, all the good works of science fiction are always a comment on our current situation, be it by describing expectations of new technology formulations that will solve all our problems, as well as by photographing a dystopia that will occur if humans do not change direction current technological developments.
Why is the Sci-Fi Hackathon?
Because it is time for those with critical social imagination to collaborate with those who understand technology to create prototypes of ideas that intrigue the brain and our knowledge of the possibilities of developing human civilization in the future.
Hope this event will be held soon in Indonesia? You are lucky, because on August 27-28, Mediatrac, MakeDoNia Makerspace and Data Science Indonesia will hold the first Data For Life 2016 Sci-Fi Hardware Hackathon in Indonesia! Click the link below to find out more.