The Synthetic Age: Outdesigning Evolution, Resurrecting Species, and Reengineering Our World

by Christopher J. Preston

Imagining a future in which humans fundamentally reshape the natural world using nanotechnology, synthetic biology, de-extinction, and climate engineering. We have all heard that there are no longer any places left on Earth untouched by humans. The significance of this goes beyond statistics documenting melting glaciers and shrinking species counts. It signals a new geological epoch. In The Synthetic Age, Christopher Preston argues that what is most startling about this coming epoch is not only how much impact humans have had but, more important, how much deliberate shaping they will start to do. Emerging technologies promise to give us the power to take over some of Nature's most basic operations. It is not just that we are exiting the Holocene and entering the Anthropocene; it is that we are leaving behind the time in which planetary change is just the unintended consequence of unbridled industrialism. A world designed by engineers and technicians means the birth of the planet's first Synthetic Age. Preston describes a range of technologies that will reconfigure Earth's very nanotechnologies that can restructure natural forms of matter; “molecular manufacturing” that offers unlimited repurposing; synthetic biology's potential to build, not just read, a genome; “biological mini-machines” that can outdesign evolution; the relocation and resurrection of species; and climate engineering attempts to manage solar radiation by synthesizing a volcanic haze, cool surface temperatures by increasing the brightness of clouds, and remove carbon from the atmosphere with artificial trees that capture carbon from the breeze. What does it mean when humans shift from being caretakers of the Earth to being shapers of it? And in whom should we trust to decide the contours of our synthetic future? These questions are too important to be left to the engineers.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Philosophy

224 pages, Hardcover

Published March 16, 2018

Reviews

[Matt Knox]

These days it seems like techno-pessimism is all the rage among hip, philosophical types - and with good reason, given the ravages of climate change, ocean acidification, plastic waste, social media addiction, drone warfare, and all the other woes brought about by the technology we once viewed as liberating. Our culture's notion of progress has been turned on its head as catastrophe looms large. In naive and frankly boring contrast we have myopic optimists like Steven Pinker and "ecomodernists" like the Breakthrough Institute and its prodigal son, Michael Shellenberger, who offer false hope through downplaying the scope of our environmental troubles and fetishizing nuclear energy. Here, Christopher J. Preston offers a far more exciting vision of ecomodernism: there's no gawking over how the climate crisis is "solved" because solar energy is cheap now (*cough* Noah Smith *cough*). Instead, Preston explores powerful emerging technologies such as synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and geoengineering - rather than attempting to minimize the admittedly massive problems we face, he shows us the tools we need to take them on. Additionally, he examines some novel forms of conservation which challenge our traditional understanding of nature and how to protect it. Preston is not a journalist or science writer but a philosopher of nature, and he considers how these emerging technologies and conservation methods play into debates within environmental thought, challenging old-school environmentalism and deep ecology in light of the Anthropocene and our capacity to shape the planet. Though I was admittedly on his side to begin with, his vision of a deeper and more high-tech ecomodernism is extremely compelling. A must-read for environmentalists, climate activists, and futurists.

[Wu Shih]

Un'interessante ricognozione delle ultime frontiere della scienza e delle filosoie che ne guidano più o meno cosciamente le future possibilità.

[Ruben Baetens]

A wonderful piece of writing, and a must-read for everyone involved in ecology and day-after-tomorrow thinking ...

[Ross Nelson]

This provides a good overview of many of the ways humans are going beyond what is "natural." However, if you've already familiar with Drexler, Ventner, and proposals about climate engineering, you may find yourself skimming. What Preston adds is a discussion on some of the arguments on both sides of these issues, and I would have liked to have seen even more of that. Wisely, the author doesn't attempt to give solutions to each of these problems, because they are not easily solved, but he does put together a list of issues that need thought and discussion, and it's also worth considering them together rather than individually, since they all deal with technologies that are accelerating change.

[Adam Monckton]

Provides an optimistic and informative view of the future, though struggles to elaborate on most goals. Also fails to explain a wide range of the discoveries the author mentions.

[Jill]

This book was not exactly what I expected, but made some outstanding points as well as being generally entertaining. A new way to look at things that I had yet to consider.