FOR THE PAST three decades, on and off, I've written about climate change and its effects. Through it all, I'd have described myself as a Star Trek-scale optimist about science and its ability to uplift humanity. I thought that science-hero sci-fi was inspirational, and dystopian sci-fi was a warning. I believe in positive political action. I think that in times of disaster, people help each other.
Or, at least, I've always thought I thought that.
But a few weeks ago, at dinner, a conversation with my teenage son went awry. I was trying to talk to him about possible college plans, and he wouldn't engage. I pushed. We gotta get started, I explained. Applications. Money. Campus visits.
And he said, “Frankly, I just feel sort of nihilistic about it.”
I followed up. About what?
Well, it turned out—the whole thing, really. College, jobs, the ecosphere, the future. The boomers blasted it all into oblivion while Gen X screwed around on the internet.
Here's where I blew it. Instead of giving him the we're-all-in-this-together-change-the-future speech, I said, “Kiddo, I think there's a chance that when all this shakes out, some people will get to be inside the dome and most people won't, and I'm just hoping you'll get inside the dome before they shut the door.”
This was, I want to be clear, me fucking up. He couldn't figure out how to make his schoolwork matter even to himself, and I basically implied that if he didn't get good grades he wouldn't be worth saving after the apocalypse. I don't even think that! Or I don't mean to. But after 30 years on the job I'm starting to suspect that shouting “But science!” from the back of the room might not actually be making enough of a difference. I keep typing, but antivaxxers keep anti-ing and carbon emitters keep emitting. What is the point of me? Like the kid said: nihilistic.
In 'Termination Shock,' Neal Stephenson Finally Takes on Global Warming | WIREDhttps://www.wired.com/story/sci-fi-icon-neal-stephenson-global-warming/