The Ghost of Carnot
Realistic futurism.
Topian thinking.
No science fiction.
A project to foster discourse about what the future may actually be like.
realistic futurism : a rational framework for considering the range of possibilities for the future based on the known laws of physics, existing science, and existing trends in human and natural history
topian : proposing, advocating, or related to social, political, economic, or other schemes in line with modern human existence; neither utopian nor dystopian
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The future concerns all humans, but we seem unwilling to think about it realistically.
Perhaps spoiled by constant technological progress in our lives to date, we suffer from biases that cloud our conception of what the future probably holds for humankind. In love with "science" fictions and fantasies that are simply not possible in this universe, we have ceded our rational thinking and ignored our own accumulated scientific knowledge, deluding ourselves about what can be and what probably will be.
This approach is neither truthful nor healthy. And it may be counterproductive for us and our descendants.
The Ghost of Carnot is a project dedicated to fostering discourse about what the future will probably be like, devoid of fictions and fantastical thinking. It aims to fill the glaring void of realism in human thought about the future. It dares to imagine a future that is neither utopian nor dystopian, but rather just topian.
About our site
About our name
Over two hundred years ago, the young French military engineer Sadi Carnot laid out the principles of the branch of science later to be known as thermodynamics. His scientific achievements stand on par with those of Newton and Einstein.
Though possessing an incorrect understanding of heat, Carnot nonetheless articulated with mathematical certainty the maximum efficiency ever achievable by any engine, and from his work the laws of thermodynamics directly emerged.
Try as we might, we will never escape the limits imposed by Carnot’s logic. As our imaginations run wild on fantastical technologies and fantastical futures, Carnot's ghost will be lurking there ever-present, keeping our ambitions in check.
In that sense, he (or his ghost) is a fitting namesake for our project and our efforts to describe the future as it realistically could be and not as we want it to be.
About our author
All paths lead to the future, and Matt, The Ghost of Carnot's author, believes his is as good as any to start a discussion about it.
In 2023, Matt set out to write an existential novel that was, incidental to its plot, set several thousand years in the future. In undertaking the thought experiment of imagining what the "far" future might actually be like, he became immediately frustrated by the lack of discourse in the world about probable outcomes for human existence.
Two years later, with a draft of his novel complete, Matt launched Ghost of Carnot to form the community he never found dedicated to discussing realistic futurism and topian thinking.
Matt received a formal education in classics and comparative literature. Beginning his career in finance, he gained a substantive grounding in economics and the real world and took several opportunities to live and work abroad in various countries. Later transitioning to the energy industry, he found his love for geology and his missed calling to be an engineer, eking out a rudimentary self-education in both fields. More recently, as an entrepreneur in the clean-energy space, he has had occasion to interact with numerous technologists. Matt is a husband and father of three and resides in north Texas.