First Man: ‘Humanity must get out of prison’

“There is no doubting the importance of the current principles for sustainability, from environmental protection to the fight against climate change, and green lifestyles. In the foreseeable future, preserving all these principles will be fundamental if humanity is to progress.

To continue to grow, one must get out of the couch, and it is the same with humanity. To achieve a truly sustainable future, we must go beyond the Earth, our seat. However, what Arthur C. Clarke wrote in 2001: A Space Odyssey can be fulfilled: ‘In the midst of many, they are slowly starving to death’.

Chinese sci-fi author Liu Cixin spoke to the UN headquarters remotely to kick off the celebrations for Chinese Language Day.

The regeneration of all societies will require far more resources than our planet can provide, and this makes development dangerous. But we can find everything we need to survive and thrive on the eight planets and asteroid belt of our Solar System, including water, iron, minerals, and fuels for nuclear fusion; If the Earth was able to feed 100 billion people in total, then the resources in the Solar System could support the population of 100,000 Earths.

However, whether we hold on to the Earth or enter the world, sustainable development requires the non-stop progress of science and technology, but the signs are not that promising.

Science fiction writers think that 2023 will see giant space cities living on geosynchronous orbits, with the Moon orbiting Earth; cities on Mars, with millions of people living there; massive mining operations in the asteroid belt and even on Jupiter’s ice-covered oceans and beyond the orbit of Neptune; and people exploring new opportunities.

Information technology has ‘leapt forward’ in the past 30 years.

The only area where the reality of 2023 matches the fantasy of science fiction is in the development of information technology. In the past 30 years, information technology has advanced much faster than other technologies and has penetrated all aspects of human society to change people’s lives.

Nevertheless, this obscures the slow progress of other sciences and technologies, creating a ripple effect of technological progress in all directions. If the technological progress brought about by scientific development is considered as a big tree, then the most fruits on the tree have been taken today.

To reach a truly sustainable future, we need a great spirit of pioneering and entrepreneurship. The international community needs a long-term development plan, as well as full attention to, and investment in, basic research and technological innovation. Many solutions in this area can be done with large international collaborations, and the United Nations can undoubtedly play an important role in it.

Yet, the world community still suffers from division and conflict, even when all mankind faces common problems. A cultural disaster occurs locally, and other parts of the world can provide assistance; but the struggle of the day of judgment puts the whole world to destruction, and no one will come to save us.

But once the whole world society faces the doomsday crisis in the history of science, I think people will still come together to respond to the crisis). Collectively, we have the ability to self-regulate, the way we interact with nature. “

Liu Cixin is speaking at the UN as part of Kannada Language Day celebrated on 20 April. You can watch the full episode Here