Chain-Writing Phase 3 Submissions Open through August 27
HOW DID IT GET HERE? SUBMIT THE FINAL LINK IN THE CHAIN.
What collapsed or failed? What trends and events led to this? What are the implications for U.S. national interests?
Chain-writing is an asynchronous, crowd-sourced experiment that starts with boundary conditions and allows participants to identify potential events and trends that may lead to a certain future.
Final (Phase 3) submissions must build upon the 2024-2033 and 2034-2043 links in the chain.
THE CRISIS BEGAN WHEN A SMALL, WHITE MOUSE IN DRESDEN FAILED TO DIE.
It took some time for anyone to notice: The median lifespan of a lab mouse is about 20 months, but 30 months is not unheard of, and not dying is not a singular event. It was only when a newly hired graduate student at the Max Planck Institute conducted an inventory of the mice retired from previous experiments that she realized something extraordinary had occurred….
They called it meth. It was short for what scientists called the “Methuselah Treatment...”
…but those who coined the term claimed that, for societies, it was just as addicting and destructive as the original meth.
Like any addict, wealthy societies were spending all their money on the source of their addiction. Budgets for defense, aid, and research were halved and halved again as wealthy states in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific were forced to spend billions to support healthcare for their aging populations. And as populations aged, political support for meth—and all its healthcare costs—grew rapidly. After all, no one wanted to be the politician that makes their elderly voters live for centuries but asks that their children drop dead at 77.
VOTING RESULTS
First Place
The Methuselah Treatment
Second Place
UPCC v. Sanchez
Third Place
A World Behind
