A US reality television show about seasteading, the movement to establish floating, self-sufficient cities in the ocean, is in the works. The Seasteading Institute, a non-profit founded by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, sent out a casting call today urging all “experts and survivalists” with an interest in technocratic nautical world-building to sign on.
I don’t know when this will air or what channel it will be on, but I know it will be compelling as hell. I would like to humbly submit my argument why this futurist aqua-drama will be the greatest:
- Survivalism is an excellent genre of reality TV, with shows like Man Vs. Wild sating our love of seeing people pee outdoors stoically. This show is bound to feature lots of ocean shenanigans, like shark sightings and jellyfish mishaps.
- Creating Lord of the Flies-esque temporary communities in isolated places is its own separate reality television genre, and even more entertaining. Shows like Survivor, Kid Nation, and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here highlight how incredibly enjoyable it is to watch people form alliances, feud, and fail in societies of their own making.
- Then there’s the whole reality genre devoted to watching rich people bicker (I call this the arsepiration genre, boom, roasted). There is a direct correlation between great reality TV and obscene wealth, delusion, and outsized egos (see: Real Housewives franchise, the career of Scott Disick). The seasteading movement is chock-full of Valley money and people who truly believe they can change the world.
Put these three genres together, and you’ll have the seasteading community: A DIY-obsessed group of dreamers and schemers — many very wealthy, others just very optimistic — who want to self-isolate and form a better world. I have high hopes for this one. [Fusion]
Image via Seasteading Institute