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Science fiction and the death of the sun

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Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#51

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #36
fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a case of “Whig History” that refuses to die

The scientific method didn’t exist before the Enlightenment. We had tolerant societies before the present. But the notion that science should trump religion is modern. That doesn’t imply a glorious present. Just a qualitatively different one from any period before the modern era.

> But the notion that science should trump religion is modern.

Not particularly: in both the Medieval and Islamic worlds, the writings of Ibn Rushd (Averroes) introduced this concept. And, then as now, it depended on an irrationalism about religion (or a view that religion was a sort of noble lie for controlling the masses) that was widely rejected by the medievals who tended to prefer a harmony model of natural reason and revelation.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#52

Post by strogonoff »

oceanplexian wrote: post #43
Reason077 wrote: post #18

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's 2007 film Sunshine is another great example of this genre. Rather than abandoning a frozen earth due to the dying sun, they send a mission to deliver a bomb into it to "restart" it. A real all-star cast featuring not only a young Cillian Murphy, but a young Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Cliff Curtis, and Rose Byrne! Highly recommended, despite never satisfa…

> Seems to me that adding humans to the mix greatly increased the complexity and risk of the mission. We spent the last few years watching robots with state of the art 21st century technology and software crash on the moon repeatedly, and yet, in the 1960s a few hot shot test pilots could stick a landing on their first try. Given the choice between robots and humans, I’ll take the humans.

Human ingenuity aside, I wonder if sending humans on missions can offer higher success rates due to higher stakes for all involved (the cost of human life). When we send humans to the Moon, the pressure to get things right is higher and consequences of failure are very dire. Sadly, of course, not a guarantee of success.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#53

Post by strogonoff »

0x38B wrote: post #32
throwup238 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Event Horizon is a great movie to watch after Sunshine

These two articles in American Cinematographer (1 and 2) give some interesting background on the movie; concerning the ship they write: > When it first appears onscreen, the Event Horizon craft itself resembles a giant crucifix hovering over the surface of Neptune. "The spaceship was built on a cruciform, like all cathedrals are," Anderson explains. "We began the design process by literally scanning [photos of] the N…

“We began designing the spaceship by scanning the Notre-Dame Cathedral” is an example of exactly the right kind of non-spoiler spoiler, one that doesn’t ruin the film but only makes me interested in watching it.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#54

Post by jxdxbx »

oceanplexian wrote: post #43
Reason077 wrote: post #18

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's 2007 film Sunshine is another great example of this genre. Rather than abandoning a frozen earth due to the dying sun, they send a mission to deliver a bomb into it to "restart" it. A real all-star cast featuring not only a young Cillian Murphy, but a young Michelle Yeoh, Chris Evans, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benedict Wong, Cliff Curtis, and Rose Byrne! Highly recommended, despite never satisfa…

> Seems to me that adding humans to the mix greatly increased the complexity and risk of the mission. We spent the last few years watching robots with state of the art 21st century technology and software crash on the moon repeatedly, and yet, in the 1960s a few hot shot test pilots could stick a landing on their first try. Given the choice between robots and humans, I’ll take the humans.

I didn’t want to pipe up right when it happened with my non-expertise but seriously, that Odysseus lander seemed liked a pretty dumb design. Of course it tipped over. Come on

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#55

Post by voltaireodactyl »

0x38B wrote: post #32
throwup238 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Event Horizon is a great movie to watch after Sunshine

These two articles in American Cinematographer (1 and 2) give some interesting background on the movie; concerning the ship they write: > When it first appears onscreen, the Event Horizon craft itself resembles a giant crucifix hovering over the surface of Neptune. "The spaceship was built on a cruciform, like all cathedrals are," Anderson explains. "We began the design process by literally scanning [photos of] the N…

Thank you for these excellent links, the added context to that design process is deeply satisfying.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#57

Post by ronnirradd »

Apocryphon wrote: post #5

> For while the dying-earth genre came to an end in the 1940s uhh... Dying Earth is a fantasy series by the American author Jack Vance, comprising four books originally published from 1950 to 1984. The Book of the New Sun (1980–1983, 1987) is a four-volume science fantasy novel[2] written by the American author Gene Wolfe.

ctrl-f'd for vance and wolfe. was shocked they didn't make it.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#58

Post by entrox »

0x38B wrote: post #32
throwup238 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Event Horizon is a great movie to watch after Sunshine

These two articles in American Cinematographer (1 and 2) give some interesting background on the movie; concerning the ship they write: > When it first appears onscreen, the Event Horizon craft itself resembles a giant crucifix hovering over the surface of Neptune. "The spaceship was built on a cruciform, like all cathedrals are," Anderson explains. "We began the design process by literally scanning [photos of] the N…

It‘s fun to imagine that Event Horizon is actually in the same universe as Warhammer 40k.

Not only does the plot fit perfectly with the ship going through the warp, the Gothic design matches the aesthetic as well.

Even if not intended, it just works so well.

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#59

Post by perilunar »

I've never really understood the pessimism of the dying sun trope in SF. If humans are still around in billions of years then our descendants will either have spread throughout the galaxy, or will have the technology to either tweak the Sun to not go nova, or to move the Earth out of harm's way. Seems like a major failure of the imagination.

(Also: the idea that we need to find other planets to live on if the Sun goes nova or if we screw up the Earth is another one. We'll probably be living in millions of large space colonies, not on planets.)

Re: Science fiction and the death of the sun

#60

Post by clarionbell »

New Sun by Gene Wolfe is a great example of that genre. Also of the unreliable narrator, as the protagonist is writing his autobiography, is not well educated and suffers from rather interesting neurological divergence (he forgets nothing).

All in all, it makes for a very good series. Especially once you realize that you are reading about sci-fi world, as written about by a person living in essentially ancient society.

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