​

The radical technological revolution we're about to experience may offer humans greater possibilities of self-determination and self-expression, and even personally tailored Utopias.

 

The idea of morphological freedom opens up the prospect of humans taking on new bodily forms in the future. This may also help to break down constraining social notions such as gender and race which may become obsolete or at least passé as different versions of being human become thinkable.

 

However, even in a world of radical abundance some forms of scarcity would remain - not everyone can own a mansion on the French Riviera. As such, a personalized utopia for everyone may only be a possibility in virtual reality.

 

Emerging from three hundred years of liberalism and capitalism, the pursuit of individualistic Utopian ideas are at the forefront of much futurist thinking. However, new technologies also undermine many of the assumptions at the heart of liberalism. Our momentary desires have never been expressions of an entirely free will, but dependent on multiple factors such as our genes, our cultures and even the bacteria in our guts.

 

Future technologies raise the prospect not just of interpreting these desires more effectively but also of influencing and even determining them.