Brave New World of Technology

Mark Bahr, University of Queensland

Abstract

For over seventy years science fiction authors have prognosticated about the impact of technology on society. These authors have had a remarkable degree of accuracy in describing some technologies, and even some social changes. H.G. Wells (1935), predicted the impact of technology on warfare at the turn of the century with remarkable accuracy. Aldous Huxley (1932) foresaw a Brave New World of bio-technology, teaching machines, and social engineering. More recently, Arthur C. Clarke accurately predicted the role of satellites in mass communication. Others have predicted the credit card, the cashless society, the subdermal i.d.'s, artificial organs, the hole in the ozone layer, and global climate change. Even Dick Tracey's wristwatch telephone is now available.