#One of the most popular cultural motifs is that of the dramatic difference between the futuristic utopia promised us by science fiction in the past and today’s reality. The line has many variations, but is structured more or less like this: “We were told that in 2022 we would be driving flying cars. And we actually rode scooters.”
The focus is on the disjunction between the futuristic optimism of science fiction decades ago and the cascade of crises we live in today. But what’s really going on with flying cars? Western novels and Hollywood films had programmed into us the expectation that the first personal-use air cars would arrive in some familiar English-speaking metropolis like New York or Los Angeles. London as a last resort. There is also logic – after all, the United States is the birthplace of the aviation industry, and it was in America that the car first became an affordable car for the masses.
But the reality on the ground still surprises us. Or at least it would surprise us from a decade or two ago. Today, there is not much shock on the faces of people reading the news about the Chinese flying car being tested in Dubai. The last decade has made such phrases commonplace.
Exciting documentary footage made the rounds last month. The X2 model of the Chinese electric car company Xpeng Inc made its maiden flight in the UAE. For years, Dubai in particular has been branded as a mecca of futuristic technology and a modern temple of all kinds of innovations.
The demonstration debut flight lasted 90 seconds, and the machine floated in the air without a pilot or, if you prefer, a pilot. The vehicle looks like a hybrid of a car and a large drone, and the company aims to start serious production for international markets soon.
Xpeng Inc described the achievement as “an important step towards the next generation of flying machines”. Chinese manufacturers said they chose Dubai because it is “the most innovative city in the world”.
Now go back in time and tell people about the 90s too the same line. You will make a shocked face.
‘Dubai as the most innovative, high-tech and futuristic place in the world? And China as the first manufacturer of flying machines?’
They won’t believe it.
This actually shows how much human civilization has changed in the last thirty years.
Perhaps the future is already here. Some modern philosophers and sci-fi enthusiasts have actually been arguing for some time that we inhabit a specific cyberpunk modality: advanced technology coexisting with primitive conflict and relationships. Unthinkable wealth and access to scientific breakthroughs contrast with crime, poverty and dysfunction.
Yet, a Chinese flying car makes its debut in Dubai. The West should be ashamed. Let go of the reins of the day to come.
Give initiative. Of course, we also have Elon Musk, who makes revolutionary space rockets, electric cars and has already taken on the task of changing the information environment in digital terms with the acquisition of Twitter. And all this without forgetting his dream of colonizing Mars. Other Western mega-entrepreneurs such as Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson are developing another futuristic vector: space tourism. For now, only the ultra-rich and celebrities like Star Trek legend William Shatner.
However, the first working flying machine will probably not be one of our well-known Western or Japanese brands. But it is very likely that a spectacular geopolitical and economic competition between manufacturers of floating cars will begin in the coming decades. And we could remain firmly on the asphalt and similar events like the one in Dubai a few days ago will turn out to be just an exotic tourist branding event. But there is something truly nostalgic about the idea of flying machines. Popular culture has a key role to play here.
In the mid-1980s, the sci-fi comedy classic Back to the Future promised flying cars as early as 2015. Director Robert Zemeckis and the rest of the filmmakers clearly overestimated humanity. The classic animated series The Jetsons incorporated flying machines into their vision of the future as early as 1962. According to Sir Ridley Scott’s masterpiece “Blade Runner” we too were supposed to soar between skyscrapers.
The truth is, there is no scientific consensus on the inevitability of flying machines. Tomorrow is a blank slate for tech minds to paint a futuristic landscape. More and more often we roll our eyes to catch a glimpse of another small drone with which a family at the park or a young person with a vlog fills their time. Who knows, we might be looking for another reason relatively soon: waiting for someone to fly us to a party on the 632nd floor of a new commercial building. Or in the good old pub, as long as there’s somewhere to park the air machine.
