Storying Just Futures, in collaboration with Earth Systems Science for the Anthropocene, hosted a November 14 event funded by Create the Change.
The event, The Philosophy of The Matrix: What we can learn about Futures Literacy, AI Data Centers, and Storytelling from the Blockbuster Trilogy, explored the enduring power of The Matrix film trilogy as a lens for thinking about the futures we’re creating. Fifteen student participants reflected on how the films’ core philosophical questions—about reality, choice, and resistance—can deepen our futures literacy and help us critically examine the rise of AI data centers shaping our world today.
Led by Joni Adamson, president's professor of environmental humanities and distinguished global futures scholar, the session highlighted the importance of storytelling as a tool for justice and imagination, inviting us to think like “jazz intellectual freedom fighters”: improvisational, creative, and courageous in challenging dominant systems and envisioning liberated futures.
Participants found that The Matrix offers a compelling philosophical framework for thinking about futures literacy: understanding how our assumptions shape what we believe is possible. By examining ideas of reality, perception, and choice, the event highlighted how critically questioning the “systems” around us—including emerging technologies like AI data centers—opens space for more thoughtful, intentional futures.
The Storying Just Futures event series continues as the project moves toward a larger convergence. Students will also begin developing a white paper to be presented at an intergovernmental UNESCO-MOST meeting.
