1833

By fulfilling its mechanical purposes, the US would turn itself into a new Eden, a state of superabundance where there will be a continual feast, parties of pleasures, novelties, delights and instructive occupations, not to mention vegetables of infinite variety and appearance.

— John Adolphus Etzler, The Paradise Within the Reach of All Men (1833)

1991

What better way to emulate God’s knowledge than to generate a virtual world constituted by bits of information?

— Michael Heim, philosopher

2005

Behold, we are entering a new world, powered not by God’s grace but by the web’s electricity of participation. It will be a paradise of our own making, manufactured by users. History’s databases will be erased, humankind rebooted. You and I are alive at this moment.

— Wired, August 2005 cover article on Web 2.0

2014

For the first time in history, humankind, liberated by computers and robots from physical constraints, will be able to express its full and true nature. We will be whoever we want to be. . . . The main fields of human endeavor will be culture, arts, sciences, creativity, philosophy, experimentation, exploration, adventure.

— Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist

2016

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, speaking at an event for tech industry leaders, offers a mind-blowing future of neural lace implanted in the human jugular, a representative democracy on Mars, and the real possibility that we’re living in a video game simulation.

— All quotes in Carr, Utopia Is Scary except Elon Musk speaking at CODE, June 2, 2016