Co-Author Anthony Morrell
- The Dead Past, Asimov: https://novel12.com/the-complete-stories/the-dead-past-993199.htm
We’re approaching this eventuality. While Asimov may or may not have anticipated it (as is always the question with science fiction that predicts too well), our systems of gathering and organizing data have only become more comprehensive and capable over the years.
One major difference does exist that makes Asimov’s world differ from ours, however–the timeline. While the story explores the concepts behind a capability like this springing up out of nothing, our world sees that capability evolving over decades. While their world is shocked by the capabilities of unrestrained science, ours is far busier exploring it as quickly as possible. The world of The Dead Past evolved ethically before they evolved technologically. But in our world, our understanding and regulation of the ethics and applications tend to come well after the machine has been built and put into the hands of millions.
So are we better off for having been given more time to adapt to this new world of infinite information? Or worse, because our endless expansion has no common sense governing body capable of even attempting to stop it?
Then again, this is how evolution works in our world–during times of change, not stability. And a more fit, more evolved society? A more evolved humanity? Greater capability, more information, and no secrets? It’s a world that is alien, but not one that is necessarily wrong. Not better either, perhaps, but one must take care when calling one thing right and another wrong. In this story, as in real life, we are facing a record of facts, which itself is not evil. But its applications most certainly can be.
But most important is the question of what happens next. Our world still has variability in its security. Not everyone has the capability to access this information, not everything is recorded, and none of it is perfect. Does that make it more like Asimov’s “ideal” scenario, where the technology is kept away from the world? Or does that inequality merely enable a more controlled world, one which is reliable, stable… but also suppressed and restricted? As technology continues to improve, we will develop more accurate and complete methods of breaching each other’s privacy. At some point, we may face a problem much closer to that of The Dead Past. Unlike Asimov, we only have to wait to find out.