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Paper short abstract

Secondary catastrophic narratives unfold from some online transhumanist users: dystopian futures tied to AI and the Singularity, fears of marginalization, salvation through destruction. Nature and climate change emerge as both backdrop and protagonists in hybrid scenarios between real and virtual.

Paper long abstract

How captivating can a story be when it involves the narration of a disaster, even on a global scale? This paper is based on a research conducted through a netnographic study of social channels related to transhumanism. The research revealed some secondary aspects: narratives of catastrophe linked to technological development and AI, highlighting a dimension where concrete and physical possibilities (or dangers) emerge for humanity as it evolves toward its final stage – sometimes envisioned in the narrative of the Singularity – highlighting the marginalization of the individual, who risks becoming trapped within their own narrative. These scenarios include dystopian or catastrophic futures in which AI could become a tool for saving humanity, Earth, and Nature by means of humanity's own destruction (rather than salvation).

These narratives reveal a perception of danger that is more accurately described as a drift or a loss of reference in contemporary times, which becomes a threat to a future where the real risk lies in predictions not coming true: exposing conspiracy theories that don’t exist or yet another delay in the arrival of the Singularity.

In the background, yet the true protagonist, is Nature. the setting where these stories of trauma and disaster unfold. These accounts transition from the virtual world into our contemporary reality. Extreme climate changes and nature's demands become foundational elements for disaster narratives, where climatic, sociopolitical, economic, and ontological references complete a sometimes alienated and alienating scenario: in which the dichotomies online/offline, real/virtual and natural/artificial fade in a while.