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We need more optimistic science fiction

craig-russell.co.uk

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Re: We need more optimistic science fiction

#3

Post by jauntywundrkind »

luotuoshangdui wrote: post #2

Good point. Can someone recommend some good optimistic science fiction?

A Half Built Garden was lovely, I thought.

Ada Palmer had a good write-up on Hopepunk. Many of the example books come towards the latter half of the write-up. https://beforewegoblog.com/purity-and-futures-of-hard-work-b...

Re: We need more optimistic science fiction

#4

Post by stevenwoo »

luotuoshangdui wrote: post #2

Good point. Can someone recommend some good optimistic science fiction?

Project Hail Mary, The Martian, Contact. Somewhat in line with a better future mentioned in the essay, The Ministry for the Future and the Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson posit some solutions to some big technological challenges with a lot of time with each side in the political debate, though whether one finds it optimistic lies with the reader.

Re: We need more optimistic science fiction

#6

Post by AIPedant »

On Twitter, Colin Fraser pointed out that Black Mirror was somewhat optimistic in that the horrible evil technology actually works as described[1].

Truly pessimistic science fiction would have

- people worshipping an AI God which is demonstrably dumber than a dog

- friendly humanoid robots which don't really understand how to walk down a flight of stairs

- gravitational warp drives which are purely cosmetic and cannot travel anywhere, though it leads to terrible cancer

- a Potemkin Dyson Sphere where only 5% of the panels work and the government blames out-of-system immigrants for the blackouts

[1] https://xcancel.com/colin_fraser/status/1911129344979964207#...

Re: We need more optimistic science fiction

#7

Post by luotuoshangdui »

jauntywundrkind wrote: post #3
luotuoshangdui wrote: post #2

Good point. Can someone recommend some good optimistic science fiction?

A Half Built Garden was lovely, I thought. Ada Palmer had a good write-up on Hopepunk . Many of the example books come towards the latter half of the write-up. https://beforewegoblog.com/purity-and-futures-of-hard-work-b...

Thanks, hopepunk is a fun new concept to learn about.

Re: We need more optimistic science fiction

#8

Post by JPLeRouzic »

I love science fiction, but as someone born in the middle of the last century, I am biased toward authors from the 20th century.

I noticed that the novels at the end of Nature (the journal) were sad and weird, but I thought it was probably an editorial choice to look "modern".

Yet recently, I read SF novels with authors sorted alphabetically, and it struck me again how weird and sad 21st-century novels are.

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