In 1975, the movie Logan’s Run hit theaters. Garnering an Oscar for MGM studios and a staggering $50 million in box office revenue, it stands as one of the highest-grossing films of its time. The story depicts a future society controlled by a centralized artificial intelligence in which the population and consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by exterminating its citizens when they reach the age of thirty.
The city is self-contained. Procreation is controlled, children are bred in hatcheries. There are hints at selective breeding suggesting that a very limited gene pool is permitted to exist inside the city. There are no families, no marriages, and no ownership of property. The citizens are kept in this child-like state where the machine is the parent, the caregiver, and not just in the hatchery but the whole society is set up this way. The machine provides and decides everything. The culture is involved in this sort of folk-hedonism, centered on sentient pleasures which include open sexuality and a variety of recreational intoxicants. A long-dead machine programmer’s idea of paradise, of heaven.
It might surprise you to know that the Smart City is modeled after these very ideas. Take this deep dive with me while I explore the plans for the Unholy World City.
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