Now I know that they are the only food that we can afford to farm globally. Luckily, chickens love cockroaches and I love chicken.
Kevin McCloud sends Jon Richardson, Alice Levine and Phil Wang on an epic global journey to discover the extraordinary developments being made in technology – tech he thinks can save the planet – in Kevin McCloud’s Rough Guide To The Future.
The show’s publicity material describes you as an optimist about the future of the planet. Is this correct?
On a good day I’m a pessimistic optimist. On a bad day I’m an optimistic pessimist. But I never range into the slit-your-wrists category of pessimistic pessimist. That would be to deny the existence of hope. So like most human beings, I’m hopeful.
What is your knowledge of other technologies like robotics, 5G and so on?
I repair cars as a hobby, so you’ll have to assume I know more about technology than you think. For example, my father gave me a copy of Engineering Wonders Of The World in 1967 and I still have it. Admittedly, there’s not much about 5G in there, though I do know that 5G isn’t responsible for Covid-19.
What did you learn during the making of the show?
I learned that cockroaches are the future. But they always were. In the 1960s they were feted as the only creature able to survive nuclear radiation unscathed, meaning that they were going to be the species in charge in the event of certain nuclear Armageddon. Now I know that they are the only food that we can afford to farm globally. Luckily, chickens love cockroaches and I love chicken.
What kind of steps are you taking in your own life to help reverse things like global warming?
However I live, I am consuming too many of the planet’s resources and contributing to screwing things up. So I plant trees, and have done so for 30 years and I’m now considering civil disobedience as a strategy.
I drive an electric car (this has dubious credentials), take the train, recycle, re-use and mend things, and shower less frequently than I used to (this has dubious side-effects).
Our big chunky personal carbon impacts come from heating and cooling our buildings, vehicles and flying. I find a bicycle and pullovers to be essential accessories in life.
Which particular invention or development most impressed you?
The entire country of China. If you want a future world of technology, robotics and miniaturisation, then go to Japan. Alice (Levine) encountered a world of virtual lovers and tiny versions of everything although she and I were both touched by a Shinto funeral for redundant small robotic toys where their spirits were freed before their mechanical selves were sent off for recycling.
America was fascinating too because of the amount of money being poured into tech research. It seemed that every city Jon (Richardson) visited had some amazing high-tech lab making some weird product, funded by internet Warlord.
But if you want scale, go to China. This is a country unencumbered by democracy or planning restrictions, where Government initiatives can be delivered at a meaningful scale.
It’s also where people can, by the same stroke, be the beneficiaries and the victims of technology – where they can be forced to comply with labyrinthine recycling policies and punished if they fail.
Originally published at Stuff