The Conversation Cafe

I love airships. Best way to fly. Probably best way to travel. They had a brief moment of glory in the 30s then jet travel took off (check that pun!) and airships were left behind. Now they're making a small comeback as eco-friendly transporters and luxury slow travel vehicles, very safe and very large! They make for great locations in a story, too. They can be large and full of decks, quarters, and platforms, or they can be small and nimble, single person types that can roam around close to the ground. Not sure how much suspension of disbelief we can get away with in a story, though. Some of the things I see described in books kind of defy gravity (see above, very cool but in no way realistic or even credible - Midjourney-created, by the way). Maybe there's a balance? Anybody's thoughts on this would be helpful. Have a great one.

I wondered if kids who grew up on Mars would be curious about Earth? In a way, it's asking if any of us are curious about our past, about where we come from. The way I choose to ask this is by offering regression into past lives as a way to connect to a distant history that you may or may not consider your own. It's time travel without the time travel. You ride someone consciousness, someone who you once were in a past existence. You see things through their eyes, you have access to their thoughts and memories, to their emotions. You're breaking into a very personal vault and learning from the experience. It makes sense to me that living on Mars would make you consider alternatives since it would most likely be a fairly restrictive existence. A little like living on an aircraft carrier for your whole life and wondering if there was anything more out there. If you knew you could regress into a distant past and experience someone else's life, would you try it? Would you consider it an invasion of privacy or would it be like visiting a friend you never really knew well? What would you be curious about? What would you be afraid of? How would it change you? Share your view on regression and its uses, I think it would be worth exploring more diverse opinions on this. Looking forward to everyone's views.

If humans start to be born with synthetic organs, I think an existential crisis is not too far around the corner. We wont really know what that makes us and those people sporting synthetic entrails will certainly be pointed at. They'll be able to do things others can't, like see invisible colours using synthetic eyes or heal faster with synthetic blood. We're always afraid of what we don't understand so this one will cut deep. However, I also think it will influence how we interact with androids and robots who might now walk among us. The gap will close between us and I feel we'll come to regard machines as an alternate version of ourselves. This makes for some very interesting dynamics that I'm keen to dig into. I'm curious to know how you all might use a synthetic ability. Perhaps you actually wouldn't use it, you would keep it quiet to continue to fit in. Perhaps you would reserve it for particular occasions, or only for certain people? And how would you see androids that way? If they were part of our everyday lives, working alongside us, interacting with us just like we do with each other, would you befriend them? Would you keep them at arms length? Would you see them as toys, or as tools? There's no way to know for sure until it happens, of course, but I think the conversation is worth having. Let's be honest about this and see where it takes us.