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Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

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Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#51

Post by samstave »

djrogers wrote: post #19
samstave wrote: post #13

Wasn't there something about Clancy being working with the CIA to massage their image? Military and intelligence and politics have always manipulated media... Also, recall "Americans army" was being ostensibly used as a recruiting/psyche-molding tool... --- Finally: look at cyberpunk, and the top five writers in that category, as well as anime (ghost in the shell, etc) which have in-formed modern reality with all the…

There’s a big difference between paying for speculative fiction about your own industry as a form of long-term brainstorming (what the article is about) and paying authors to publicly produce works that further your political agendas. As I understand it, the works discussed in the article aren’t published in the traditional manner, and are for the use of those who commissioned them.

There may be a difference - but they are in the same mental theatre, regardless... plus don't you think they'd be at least a bit specific about the direction they are interested in the speculation heading???

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#52

Post by [deleted] »

djrogers wrote: post #19
samstave wrote: post #13

Wasn't there something about Clancy being working with the CIA to massage their image? Military and intelligence and politics have always manipulated media... Also, recall "Americans army" was being ostensibly used as a recruiting/psyche-molding tool... --- Finally: look at cyberpunk, and the top five writers in that category, as well as anime (ghost in the shell, etc) which have in-formed modern reality with all the…

There’s a big difference between paying for speculative fiction about your own industry as a form of long-term brainstorming (what the article is about) and paying authors to publicly produce works that further your political agendas. As I understand it, the works discussed in the article aren’t published in the traditional manner, and are for the use of those who commissioned them.

[deleted]

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#53

Post by devrandomguy »

detritus wrote: post #49
divbit wrote: post #42

I honestly don't care if there is a "sinister" purpose behind the good scifi I've read. Fund the next Iain banks please. In fact - throw me $50k to live for a year and you've got yourself a book - or I can at least guarantee some words on pages mentioning spaceships / robots, etc.

Speaking of whom - a friend and I were the other day wondering Just Why On Earth none of his SciFi appears to have been optioned for conversion to other media. I can imagine scope, complexity and presumably huge budget leaving prospective optioners with slightly soiled breeks, but all the same — not even a hope of one of the tales in The State of the Art?

Perhaps our civilization is not yet ready for direct contact with the Culture. Hopefully, someone and her drone are working on the problem.

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#54

Post by icebraining »

mmaluff wrote: post #28

This is the worst story I've read all week. Capitalism is destroying our culture.

This is nothing new, and certainly not restricted to capitalism. Most of the great works throughout history (sculptures, paintings, compositions, etc) were commissioned, often with a specific purpose and conditions.

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#56

Post by fundabulousrIII »

Retric wrote: post #50
fundabulousrIII wrote: post #22

Congrats. The .mil & .biz folks have been acknowledged in what has been implicit in every advancement I've seen in the last 40 years. sci-fi pop fiction postulation and conjecture based on the science community brain trust. Most of these guys were consultants or engineers anyway and empowered to write. There are iconoclasts like Ellison and the visionaries but the hard science guys always get paid for their visions.

IMO, Science fiction is less about new ideas as it is spreading those ideas to a wider audience. The average NASA scientist may come up with an interesting idea, but unless it's directly relevant within a decade few people are going to hear about it.

Edited original to provide idea ancestry.

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#58

Post by RodericDay »

divbit wrote: post #42

I honestly don't care if there is a "sinister" purpose behind the good scifi I've read. Fund the next Iain banks please. In fact - throw me $50k to live for a year and you've got yourself a book - or I can at least guarantee some words on pages mentioning spaceships / robots, etc.

Iain Banks is the kind of writer who wouldn't take military funding.

If you don't care, and encourage initiatives like these, you will never get it.

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#59

Post by hinkley »

codeulike wrote: post #40
hammock wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the opposite of when Valve hired a Chief Economist in 2012[1]. We've come full circle. [1] http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/06/18/yanis_varoufa...

... who then went on to be Minister of Finance for the Greek government.

"DO YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF A GAME?"

Re: Big Companies and the Military Are Paying Novelists to Write Sci-Fi for Them

#60

Post by elorant »

RodericDay wrote: post #57
elorant wrote: post #44

And destroyed the Greek economy. Which speaks volumes about his competence as an economist.

Someone clueless speaking confidently is always a joy to read.

Well I happen to live in Greece so I witnessed first hand the results of his reign. You probably have no idea how it is to live in a country that has capital controls so let me enlighten you. The first months, until the system was somewhat stabilized, in order to pay for servers and such we had to ask for favors from Greeks who lived abroad. Imagine having half a dozen servers to pay and not knowing if you will manage to find someone/someway to send money abroad.

So yes, the guy was a fucking disaster. But you have the luxury to judge him without living the consequences of his actions and for that I can't blame you.

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