17 Visions of Our Postpandemic World

COVID-19 marks a transition between a past where we were much less prepared than we should have been, and a future that invites us to try to do better. Issues in Science and Technology asked some interesting thinkers to accept that invitation.  How can we take advantage of the pandemic’s momentous disruptions to better navigate the complex new world that we will be busily creating?  What has COVID taught us? Their imaginative and even courageous answers address the nature of time itself (not linear, but “more like a rotating sphere or a kaleidoscope”), the fundamental assumptions of economics (“convenient for assuring that public resources continue to align with incomes, not with people”), our relations with our robots (“the challenge is to ensure that the post-COVID era will not privilege the digital machines but promote a reinvigorated, natural, human society”), and much more.

Dive into Issues to explore their pieces.

Artwork by Diane Burko.