I Was Told There'd Be Sexbots: Travels through the Future
Here’s what he saw: his wife composing a report on the dire future of global fish stocks, his youngest child building a battle robot (“Terminator”), and his oldest watching a movie about children in a post-apocalyptic world. He wondered: when did our conceptions of the future―in pop culture, in science, in business―become so bleak? Even more, are our fears founded? In search of an answer, he heads off to several ends of the earth to investigate how different societies today might reveal the future to us. In South Korea, he interacts with smart cities and artificial intelligence. In South Africa, he witnesses creative modes of conservation. In Japan, he marvels at youth in an aging population. And in Denmark, he tastes the future of food . . . cockroach, meet skillet. With his characteristic wit and charming irreverence, Troost brilliantly reimagines the travel narrative in this game-changing book―traveling not just to an existing place at a particular moment, but to the unforeseeable future, and inviting us all to join him. Pack light. Be prepared. Born in the Netherlands, he has lived in seven countries and traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific. He currently lives with his wife and two sons in the Washington D.C. area.