1. The Ultimate City Urban and Rural Values in Science Fiction Michael LaTorra Assistant Professor of English New Mexico State University mlatorra@nmsu.edu

2. Future Past Brief history of human rural/urban life & times Rural idyll & reality Urban ideal & reality Far-future Science Fiction as thought experiment Next step?

3. Natural World Environment of our evolutionary adaptation Soothing when viewed from safety Cruel and difficult to survive without technology

4. Neolithic Age Hunter-gatherer Transition from nomadic to settled life Villages Proto- agriculture

5. Neolithic Age Mythic Artistic Proto- civilization

8. Rise of Civilization: Tension between Urban & Rural

9. Age of Kings

12. Athens: Greek City-State Ideal

13. Democratic Rich Artistic Philosophical Athens: Greek City-State Ideal

14. Chauvinistic Slave-holding Misogynistic Superstitious Athens: Greek City-State Reality

15. European Pastoral Idyll No cities

16. European Pastoral Idyll No kings

17. European Pastoral Idyll No armies

18. European Pastoral Idyll Simplicity Peace

19. European Pastoral Reality

20. European Urban Ideal

21. European Urban Reality Industrial Revolution Growth of cities Increasing wealth Loss of rural values Alienation

22. Industrial Agriculture Farm sizes increase Small towns decrease Loss of rural values Alienation

23. Interdependence of Farm & City

24. The bottom falls out…

27. Times Change

29. Urban World

30. Rural World

31. Future World Urban-rural split No longer interdependent Diaspar - the ultimate city Lys - the rural idyll

32. Diaspar Splendid city full of wonders Completely self-sufficient Automated systems maintain perfect homeostasis

33. Diaspar Holds one billion years of human culture

34. Diaspar Last city on Earth

35. Diaspar City of art

36. Diaspar Time enough for everything

37. Diaspar Robots do all work Material abundance Free goods, free services, free time for all citizens

38. Diaspar Non-biological reproduction New citizens emerge from the Hall of Creation at biological age of 20

39. Diaspar Youths are mentored for 2 decades, but do not age

40. Diaspar Ever-youthful men & women live 1,000 years

41. Diaspar At end of life, people prepare to return to the Hall of Creation from which they emerged a millennium earlier

42. Diaspar Their minds are saved along with memories selected by each individual These memories will be restored in next life

43. Diaspar Centuries later they enter new bodies to live again

44. Lys Rural region of villages & farms

45. Lys As old as Diaspar Lives by the old ways

46. Lys Technology, but little automation People work

47. Lys Children are produced by the traditional method

48. Lys People grow into youths like those of Diaspar But the youths of Lys have physical imperfections

49. Lys People grow through all the stages of life

50. Lys People die after 100 years or less There is no storage of mind & memories In Lys, death is death

51. Lys Arthur C. Clarke preferred Lys over Diaspar He thought Diaspar sterile But he acknowledged each had strengths

52. Lys Perhaps Clarke’s own youth did not show him the horrors of sickness, old age & death

53. Diaspar & Lys The novel ends with Diaspar & Lys re-establishing relations Clarke never explored what a synthesis of these opposites might mean

54. What Do We Want? True love Long life Autonomy Material abundance

55. What Do We Want? Esteem from the community Challenges fit to our skills but requiring growth to meet them

56. What Do We NOT Want? Loss of all hope Not getting what we want Getting what we don't want Suffering Sickness Old age Death

57. Diaspar versus Lys: Where do our hopes lie? DiasparLys 1 true love 2 long life 3 autonomy 4 material abundance 5 esteem in community

58. DiasparLys 6 challenges 7 no physical suffering 8 no sickness 9 no old age 10 no death Diaspar versus Lys: Where do our hopes lie?

59. Diaspar score: 90% Lys score: 40% Diaspar versus Lys: Final Score

60. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? Life-extension biotech SENS Foundation Alcor Life Extension Foundation Aubrey de Grey

61. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? AI & Robotics

62. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? Nanotech & advanced manufacturing techniques

63. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? Empowering crowd-sourcing through education, Basic Income Guarantee & universal Internet access

64. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? Planetary eco-management

65. Geoeningeering until natural systems can restore balance How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys?

66. Preventing overpopulation by peaceful means

67. How Can We Build the Best of Diaspar-Lys? Global Cooperation Project: new paradigm for world relations, a Global Cooperative Forum based on the "prior unity" that underlies all existence http://www.globalcooperationproject.org/

68. The Ultimate City Diaspar + Lys Automated city of abundant health, wealth, leisure Natural outskirts - villages close to nature Best of both worlds?

69. The Ultimate City And then…the stars?

71. Thank you! Michael LaTorra Assistant Professor of English New Mexico State University mlatorra@nmsu.edu