Dystopedia

A few months back on Twitter, some wag suggested that you can cause a great disturbance in the Force — and provide moments of serious fear and confusion — by taking almost any Wikipedia article about the world today and putting the descriptions of the key things in it in the past tense.

I investigated. And it’s true.

It’s totally dystopic.

Take water, for example. Today it reads:

“Water is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere and the fluids of most living organisms. It is vital for all known forms of life, even though it provides no calories or organic nutrients. . . . (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water)”

Now read it this way:

Water was an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which was the main constituent of Earth’s hydrosphere and the fluids of most living organisms. It was vital for all known forms of life, even though it provided no calories or organic nutrients. . . .

Or take oxygen.

“Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8.  It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as well as with other compounds.  By mass, oxygen is the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. . . . (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen)”

But now:

Oxygen was the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. . . .  By mass, oxygen was the third-most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. . . . Oxygen used to be continuously replenished in Earth’s atmosphere by photosynthesis, which used the energy of sunlight to produce oxygen from water and carbon dioxide. . . .

And more past-tense tension:

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It had ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law. . . .  The Court held the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the U.S. Constitution.  It was also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. . . . (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States)

Democracy (Greek: δημοκρατία dēmokratía, literally “rule by people”) was a form of government in which the people had the authority to choose their governing legislation. Who people are and how authority was shared among them were core issues for democratic development and constitution.  Some cornerstones of these issues were freedom of assembly and speech, inclusiveness and equality, membership, consent, voting, right to life and minority rights. . . .  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy)

Or:

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, was a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions.  At 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km), it was the world’s third or fourth-largest country by total area and was slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe.  Most of the country was located in central North America between Canada and Mexico.  With an estimated population of over 328 million, the U.S. was the third most-populous country in the world. The capital was Washington, D.C., and the most populous city was New York City. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States)

The dystopic nature of this exercise is effective.

It works because many of us have come to recognize the lingua franca, structure, cadence and content of a Wikipedia article, and rely on the site to provide us with entry points into learning more. In fact they are the key entry points, online — as each of the above surfaces first in a Google search online for the noun.

You can try this at home for each of these terms — even the text box that appears on the page, filling in the knowledge graph, is drawn from Wikipedia.

Wikipedia, it turns out, is our air. A noncommercial, not-for-profit resource, it belongs to us, and not to anyone else. It promotes a self-conscious approach to rights — to contributor rights, to use rights, to user rights — as its first order of business. Not only is the actual process of knowledge creation on Wikipedia one that actually produces more equity and fairness within the act of authoring and editing — never closed to anyone, never static; not only is it an encyclopedia that even 10 years ago rivalled and usually surpassed the quality of the Encyclopedia Britannica and other longstanding print and online references; but today this powerful website, the fifth- or sixth- or 10th-most-visited site in the world, shapes knowledge creation as well as reflects the state of what we know.

How great that we can control it!  Now imagine if we could write not only the articles, but control our own future.  Imagine if:

Addison Mitchell McConnell Jr. (born February 20, 1942) was an American politician who served as Kentucky’s senior United States senator and as Senate Majority Leader. McConnell was the second Kentuckian to lead his party in the Senate, the longest-serving U.S. senator for Kentucky in history, and the longest-serving leader of U.S. Senate Republicans in history.

Or:

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) was the 45th president of the United States. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.

Dystopia — or . . . utopia?

We actually have that power.

 

Peter B. Kaufman lives in Lakeville and Cambridge, Mass., and works at MIT. He is the author of the forthcoming book, “The New Enlightenment,” (Seven Stories Press, 2021)

The views expressed here are not necessarily those of The Lakeville Journal and The Journal does not support or oppose candidates for public office.

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less