Overpowered technology and Murphy's law

[BluePepper]

I am going to write a scifi comic and it has technology that we would see in the 22nd century. People have become spacefaring and they have built colonies on the moon and mars. Nanotechnology, robots and AI such as Cortana are commonplace. Extinct species can be cloned along with a lot of other genetic and bioengineering. Technology is used for good or evil depending on the country. It seems like there is no room for conflict since the quality of life is improved so drastically by technology or people can be forced into conformity with technology. I am not sure what to do if technology is so overpowered that everything is perfect.

In democratic countries life is easy. The internet is so advanced people can download knowledge to their brains. Medicine has gotten so advanced that all diseases are eradicated and cancer can be treated instantly. Stem cell can regenerate organs, limbs and skin. People can be genetically engineered to be stronger, faster and more intelligent. Ectogenesis is mainstream so physical and genetic defects can be averted. Robots do all the dirty work such as cleaning bathrooms and people hopefully can find other ways to make money. This would probably lead to an entrepreneur economy with people making money off creative pursuits. They live in a nanny state and they are politically apathetic like in the US.

There are police states where it is impossible to break the law. There are nanodust cameras everywhere and you can't fart without the government knowing about it. There is also mind reading technology where a thought crime can be detected and the criminal can be brainwashed into conformity by rewiring their neurons. People can be genetically engineered for their assigned occupations. Their neurons will also be programmed to conform so everyone would be straight, sane, and submissive. There could also be virtual reality and other technological distractions to keep people from caring about how little freedom they have. If anyone tries to escape, there are chips planted in their head that will explode sort of like in Gantz. Only Magneto can rebel in this sort of environment with his technology killing abilities.

I was thinking about where Murphy's law would apply if technology becomes so powerful that most problems are solved and law enforcement is omnipotent. Some governments would be super repressive like North Korea and some would be EU nanny states. It costs a substantial amount of money to regulate people all the time so austerity might put an end to that.

 

[Chronum]

Well, there is obviously the part about skill, since we humans have this bad habit of working around every failsafe that we have. If a person in the common public could somehow control anything better than the government, that's something to create a massive avalanche of power against any suppressive government.

But onto the Law. Failure of comm systems? Solar storms? Making an EMP bomb far away from civilization in a metal bunker in some obscure corner of the planet that you got to because you managed not to trigger any alarms? An alien invasion (one of my favourites, actually)?

 

[BluePepper]

I guess there would be a constant battle between Anonymous and the space commies. The hackers would have to figure out how to hack their implants so they cannot be tracked.

Or an invasion of a messy and annoying parasite like the flood.

 

[Chronum]

It'll come down to a strange dynamic skill-hunting technocracy.

Only the repressive governments, though.

No one cares if either party does not fight the other. Trying to unreasonably silence people is a very bad idea with technology, simply because humans become very good at using the technology they are being repressed with.

 

[Bystander]

Im not sure what to do if technology is so overpowered that everything is perfect.

They live in a nanny state and they are politically apathetic like in the US.

brainwashed into conformity by rewiring their neurons. People can be genetically engineered for their assigned occupations.

Already been done in "Bug's Life, Antz, couple others."

 

[Czcibor]

What about letting some minor moral panic? And law changed accordingly, just this time it would be enforceable? ;)

Too many people discover that they receive enough money from gov so work is unnecessary? And protest of remaining working 1%?

Anyway, you mentioned bad "NK" style and bad "EU" style. What about bad "USA" style - right to bear plasma rifle? :D End of course after person makes carnage is being stopped by police, but intervening before massacre is unreasonable search and seizure?

 

[Khashishi]

It seems like these states would be in conflict. I mean, if there is one thing about society that won't go away with overpowered technology it is war. The Utopians would try to rescue the Dystopians, or the Dystopians would try to conquer the Utopians.

 

[cpscdave]

It's a common trope I know. But what about strife coming externally from the colonies. It strikes me that this level of government oversight would take time to set up and fully realize, so relatively new colonies would be come havens for free thinkers. Perhaps set it a bit further in time where the colonies being a hot bed of free thinking have developed technology faster and now are superior to the back water earth. Maybe a debate rages among the colonies about what to do with the people on earth. Some people arguing that its the colonies duty to liberate the people from the repression. Others saying that its not their problem and lobby to cut all ties with the home planet. Maybe even a plot line centering around a group of fanatics who are trying to destroy all the humans who still live on earth.