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Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
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Re: Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
#12Typically the embedded story (at least in the stories I'm familiar with)
Maybe read the three classics dystopian sci-fi:
The Earth Abides
Day of the Triffids
On the Beach
Anything by Phillip K. Dick
Most things by Robert Heinlein
William Gibson
John Scalzi
Re: Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
#13The Stephenson book "Fall, or; Dodge in Hell" has an interesting, and more realistic narrative of an Ameristan fragmented into tribes that have inconsistent narrative and knowledge of the world. It deals with the concept of a "post-truth society", and is something I can see us sliding towards.
Re: Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
#14I would like to know what dystopian books you have read. I think about 50 years ago there began a slow shift from warnings of overt totalitarianism (1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451) to threats of social fragmentation, economic inequality, corporate surveillance and other indirect forms of control, the resulting loss of individualism and, of course, ecological collapse. These issues seem to remain relevant for t…
The one that I had in mind while writing this was a "variation on this theme". Altered Carbon (Netflix, 2018–2020), based on the 2002 novel by Richard K. Morgan. There are a number of others, though as well where the recurring theme seems to be the "evil elites" leaving the poor to fend for themselves. Definitely agree, no one "knows" how the world works. I don't think the OP presumes anyone does. The intention in sa…
I haven't read that. But the search for immortality is ancient. It's in the Gilgamesh epic; Emperor Qin Shi Huang searched for it, as did many others looking for the Philosopher's Stone.
Of the current wealthy researching immortality, I know quite a few without googling:
Larry Ellison,
Jeff Bezos,
Larry Page,
Sergey Brin,
Peter Thiel,
Sam Altman.
Re: Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
#15> When I think about those stories I can't help but wonder if we're actually seeing the opposite of that unravel. Interesting. My perception is pretty much the opposite of yours, that such fiction has been mostly on point so far. The "elites" (and particularly the tech "elites") have built their own world that is pretty much completely disconnected from ours in a day-to-day sense. They live in compounds, have what ar…
I can't cite this directly, but according to hearsay from people who know billionaires: if the world saw how these people actually live when they're out of sight of the public, people would revolt. The idea that they live in our world is a facade.
Re: Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along?
#16The reality is that physics is pretty fucking hard to crack. So that being said, sci fi is easy. It’s made up.
I think SpaceX is cool af but end of the day rocket tech isn’t going to get us off-world unless it becomes our “cathedral” tier project. And we all know that by the time those were completed the world had largely moved on, both spiritually and engineering-wise. We also moved on from the “elites” of that time who are now props (kings and queens) or they invest into some copy paste SaaS that they sell to their friend.
I’d rather the military keep investing into insane special projects that really push the boundaries of what’s possible. Across intelligence, science R&D, and social/behavioral tendencies.
If we are gonna discuss sci fi and dystopias or utopias… My personal utopia would be the USA winning earth first, getting 99% of the world population to relax or FAFO asap so we can get to the off world stage and conquer aliens.
I’d consider myself an America techno militarist optimist.