Over at National Geographic, theoretical physicist Laurence Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing, gives his quick take on flying cars, space travel, and pessimism:
I’m not very hopeful that humanity can act en masse to address what are now truly global problems that require a new way of thinking. As Einstein said when nuclear weapons were created: “Everything’s changed save the way we think.”
I think we need to change the way we think to address these global problems. Will it happen? Maybe kicking and screaming. My friend, the writer Cormac McCarthy, told me once: “I’m a pessimist, but that’s no reason to be gloomy.” In a sense, that’s my attitude.
“Sci-Fi Is Cool (Flying Cars! Life on Mars!)—But Real Science is Cooler“