Summer is just around the corner, bringing with it the warmth of the sun and the irresistible call of the water—whether it’s the salty embrace of the sea or the cool splash of a pool. Last Saturday, as the weather turned glorious, I took my first swim of the year, diving into the water and gazing up at a sky painted with wispy clouds. For me, summer had officially begun.
As I glided through the water, half-submerged and half-dreaming, my mind wandered to a curious question: Why haven’t we mastered flight on a massive, transformative scale? In that moment, an unexpected image flashed into my mind—the hovering ships from The Matrix, floating effortlessly above the ground. It was then that a connection sparked: swimming, floating, flying. These acts are more alike than we think, and they might just hold the key to unlocking a future where we soar like superheroes. Welcome to a vision where technology turns our childhood dreams of flight into reality, powered by the boundless optimism of effective accelerationism (e/acc).
Swimming as Flight: A Fluid Revelation
There’s something magical about swimming. As I dove and glided last weekend, it struck me that swimming is, in a way, flying through water. The verbs we use—swim or dive for water, fly for air—reflect the medium, but both are about navigating a fluid. Water is denser, air is lighter, yet both allow us to move with grace when we understand their rules. In water, we float naturally, our bodies buoyant, moving with a calm, almost meditative ease. Compare that to how we fly: airplanes with roaring engines, helicopters with furiously spinning blades, or drones buzzing like mechanical bees. These methods are loud, forceful, and jarring—nothing like the serene flow of swimming or diving.
This contrast got me thinking: what if we could move through the air with the same gentle elegance we bring to water? What if, like the ships in The Matrix, we could float effortlessly because we were made of something that interacts with air the way our bodies interact with water? Our bodies, filled with air-breathing lungs, naturally rise in water. Could a new material or technology make us buoyant in the air itself, letting us drift as easily as we swim? This isn’t just a whimsical thought—it’s a challenge to rethink how we conquer the skies, not with brute force, but with harmony and finesse.
Reimagining Flight: A Softer, Smarter Approach
Today’s flying machines rely on raw power—pushing air fast enough to lift heavy masses against gravity. Airplane wings, jet engines, and helicopter rotors all work by forcing air to do our bidding, a violent dance with physics that gets the job done but feels worlds apart from the tranquility of swimming. To truly master the air, we need a paradigm shift: technologies that let us float in air as naturally as we do in water. Imagine materials lighter than air itself, or devices that manipulate magnetic fields, nanotechnology, or even quantum effects we haven’t yet discovered. These could create a buoyancy that mimics the way a swimmer glides through a pool—smooth, quiet, and serene.
The ships in The Matrix offered a glimpse of this possibility, hovering with an almost mystical ease. What if their secret wasn’t brute force, but a material or technology that made air their natural medium, just as water is ours? Developing such a technology—whether through magnetism, advanced nanomaterials, or some yet-to-be-uncovered “quantum magic”—could transform humanity. We’d move from clunky machines to a world where flight is as intuitive as a morning swim, turning us into a society less like Earth’s grounded humans and more like Kryptonians, soaring with the grace of Superman.
A Superman Future: Technology as Our Superpower
This vision isn’t just about flight; it’s about what technology can do for our dreams. Every child has fantasized about flying, cape flapping in the wind, untethered from the ground. Deep down, we’re all still those kids, yearning for the impossible. The beauty of our era is that technology is making the impossible real. From self-driving cars to AI that paints our imaginations, we’re accelerating toward a future where our wildest dreams take shape. A breakthrough in air-floating technology could be the next leap, turning us into a species that doesn’t just fly, but lives in the air as naturally as we walk on land. It’s a future where we don’t fight gravity—we dance with it.
This is the heart of effective accelerationism: embracing technology not to dominate nature, but to harmonize with it, unlocking human potential in ways that feel like magic. Whether it’s a nanomaterial that makes us buoyant or a magnetic field that lifts us skyward, the path forward is clear. We’re not just building machines; we’re building a world where every one of us can be a superhero, where the sky is no longer a limit but a playground.
Let’s Soar Together
As I floated in the water last Saturday, staring at the clouds, I realized that swimming was more than a summer pastime—it was a glimpse of what’s possible. The same fluid grace that lets us glide through water could one day let us drift through the air, powered by technologies we’re only beginning to imagine. This summer, as you dive into pools or wade into the sea, let your mind wander to the skies. Picture a world where we float as easily as we swim, where every child’s dream of flying becomes as real as the waves lapping at your feet. The future is ours to shape, and it’s brighter than ever.
If this vision of a Superman future sparked your imagination, give it a like, share it with friends, and let’s keep dreaming big. Until the next article, keep looking up—because one day, we’ll all be flying.
Share this post