Why You Should Want "Better" Problems
Here’s why 1% progress is the secret to a becoming a Protopian Professional
I’m a protopian.
A proto-what?
It’s a term coined by tech prophet Kevin Kelly.
Utopia promises perfection.
Dystopia promises doom.
Protopia promises progress. Messy, imperfect progress.
There is no straight path to the future. There are too many variables. Especially with us complicated humans in the mix.
You aren’t a static creature; you evolve. So does history. Protopia is a future that gets 1% better year over year, compounding over time.
“You can’t see a difference of 1 percent unless you turn around and look behind you,” Kelly says. “One percent a year, for 100 years — that’s a big difference.”
(Wait... are we already living a protopia?)
Protopia is progress without perfection.
A great society is not one without problems; it is one with better problems.
The goal isn’t to create the perfect society. The goal is to build a better society for imperfect humans.
The solution isn’t less technology. It’s better technology.
Yes, new tools create new, often more complex problems:
More choice breeds anxiety.
More connection fuels loneliness.
More convenience creates dependency.
But I will gladly take these problems over yesterday’s.
Yesterday: How can we spread human knowledge? Today: How do we handle information overload?
Yesterday: How do we survive basic disease and infection? Today: How do we care for an aging population and find purpose later in life?
Yesterday: Can we gather enough food to prevent starvation? Today: Can we make food healthy, humane, and affordable?
Why don’t we hear more about protopia?
Because it’s a hell of a lot less dramatic—and a lot more honest.
A bridge collapsing makes headlines. A thousand bridges not collapsing because of better engineering…snooze fest.
We also crave the psychological comfort of certainty. Utopia and dystopia are endpoints. Good or bad, we like knowing how the story ends. Protopia has no final destination. And humans don’t like stories without endings.
Speaking of stories…think of the sci-fi you watch or read. It’s always a shiny utopia or a dark dystopia. The future will save us, or the future will destroy us.
The future is abstract. Stories are powerful. Images are sticky.
Futuristic fiction becomes your imagination training.
You paint your future based on the things you’ve seen before.
The trick is not to take these extreme visions literally.
Use that imagination to your advantage.
Dystopian fiction makes us ask better questions. It warns us: Beware of mass surveillance, addictive tech, and corporate power.
Utopian fiction expands our minds. It inspires us: Work can be meaningful, humans and technology can co-exist, and we can live in peace.
Fiction may not determine the future, but it helps us build it.
Utopia gives us desire.
Dystopia gives us caution.
Protopia gives us hope grounded in reality.
So, why should you care about protopia?
Because you are living it.
Your future is not about reaching a utopian endpoint where work is effortless and retirement is a permanent vacation. And it certainly isn’t about surrendering to the dystopian fear that AI or ageism will render you obsolete.
It’s about embracing the messy, 1% progress of your own life. It’s about becoming a Protopian Professional.
Stop waiting for the perfect moment. (Utopia)
Stop fearing the unknown. (Dystopia)
Start experimenting. (Protopia)
Choose to solve better problems.
You don’t have to predict the future to be ready for it.
You just have to be 1% better tomorrow than you are today.