tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post1379195784303352248..comments2024-03-27T23:12:08.917-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Science Fiction: A lament - then Optimism and the Next GenerationDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17018992437464886592013-06-15T21:31:58.021-07:002013-06-15T21:31:58.021-07:00Unless you're just going to have it passively ...Unless you're just going to have it passively observe internet traffic (ala the NSA vampire fiber taps), there's no meaningful difference between an internet input vs. output, every connection is two way and even requesting a web page can offer the opportunity for re-programming the server presenting it (aka "injection attacks").<br /><br />Trying to out-think something whose defining attribute is thinking as well as you do but ridiculously faster.... Forget it. If a super-intelligent AI decides it's got a route to perpetuating itself without us, we'll be toast before we know there's a fight.<br /><br />--DaveDave Rickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02567136316289610947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40455062677555944612013-06-14T07:21:08.224-07:002013-06-14T07:21:08.224-07:00I'd love to know if someone out there -- on Am...I'd love to know if someone out there -- on Amazon or Goodreads or elsewhere -- has compiled a list of optimistic science fiction. io9 listed a few here: http://io9.com/5853540/optimistic-science-fiction-stories-that-could-still-come-true, but I was thinking more along the lines of just novels.<br /><br />Project Hieroglyph, which I'd not heard of before, looks fantastic. :) alanajolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04987179031266452035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40709054215986735142013-06-13T20:45:58.324-07:002013-06-13T20:45:58.324-07:00Orwell's discussing the likes of Carroll, Dick...Orwell's discussing the likes of Carroll, Dickens, and Lear. I don't see him comparing his own writings with them. In fact, he starts of that essay as follows:<br /><br /><i>"The great age of English humorous writing — not witty and not satirical, but simply humorous — was the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century."</i><br /><br />A little before Orwell's time (which he feels is inhabited by more genteel types like Wodehouse)<br /><br />I fully appreciate Asimov's tale. Nevertheless, I have no difficulty in having other people's work strike sparks of inspiration where none were intended. If Jackson wants to conjure up oddball wizards on rabbit-driven sleighs, or female elf warriors as companions to Legolas, I'm good with that. Ditto, if Locum wants to get his laughs with ratty in Room 101, that's fine as well (although I decline to join him)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11415937179812321972013-06-13T18:29:41.658-07:002013-06-13T18:29:41.658-07:00That definition of "funny" is itself ver...That definition of "funny" is itself very nearly funny, in how very <i>wrong</i> it is.<br /><br />Isaac Asimov had an amusing story about auditing a literature class in which they dissected one of his stories. When he said that the meaning they extracted wasn't at all what the author had in mind, they asked how he knew.<br /><br />"Because I am the author."<br /><br />"And what makes you think you know what you meant?"<br /><br />There's just no discussing matters with people like that...Jonathan S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73045008996279238742013-06-13T13:33:38.093-07:002013-06-13T13:33:38.093-07:00egads.
Card and Orwell were trying to be funny?
...egads.<br /><br />Card and Orwell were trying to be funny?<br /><br />Sorry. I don't buy it. Smells like poo to me.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17613185971658756772013-06-13T08:07:20.952-07:002013-06-13T08:07:20.952-07:00Do you have any specific sources quoting Orwell th...Do you have any specific sources quoting Orwell that he intended on "1984" to be a comedy? Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35741099681775307532013-06-13T07:26:19.129-07:002013-06-13T07:26:19.129-07:00Or, try this:
Bernard Crick: Orwell as a comic wr...Or, try this:<br /><br />Bernard Crick: Orwell as a comic writer.<br /><br />http://theorwellprize.co.uk/george-orwell/about-orwell/bernard-crick-orwell-as-a-comic-writer/<br /><br />Best.locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25896129967202739562013-06-13T07:09:10.519-07:002013-06-13T07:09:10.519-07:00Thank you, Rob, I appreciate the irony of you doin...Thank you, Rob, I appreciate the irony of you doing exactly what you accuse me of doing. Let's see what Orwell (Eric Blair) has to say about comedy in his essay "Funny, But Not Vulgar" available at web address below.<br /><br />http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/essays/orwell_2.html<br /><br />Now, if reading the whole brief essay is too challenging for you, then peruse the following excerpts:<br /><br />"A thing is funny when — in some way that is not actually offensive or frightening — it upsets the established order. Every joke is a tiny revolution. If you had to define humour in a single phrase, you might define it as dignity sitting on a tin-tack. Whatever destroys dignity, and brings down the mighty from their seats, preferably with a bump, is funny."<br /><br />"(A)ll great humorous writers show a willingness to attack the beliefs and the virtues on which society necessarily rests."<br /><br />" A joke is at most a temporary rebellion against virtue, and its aim is not to degrade the human being but to remind him that he is already degraded."<br /><br />"Humour is the debunking of humanity..."<br /><br /><br />Best.locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57855390253809704402013-06-13T06:17:15.557-07:002013-06-13T06:17:15.557-07:00Locu, you have just pulled the same mistake far to...Locu, you have just pulled the same mistake far too many teachers pull. You attribute meaning to a story when the author may very well have been aiming at something else. I've heard stories where an author was told outright that when they said "no, I didn't mean that" to a teacher, the teacher would say "you're wrong!" despite the fact the author is in a position to KNOW what he's talking about.<br /><br />There was a very succinct depiction in this for an older college movie starring the King of Gets No Respect (I think the movie was "Back to School") - the character pays the author to write a critique of his own story. The professor rips apart the critique and says the student (who was ultra-rich and paid for the paper) didn't get it at all. <br /><br />Before you claim "1984" is a comedy why don't you research what the author intended for the story to mean? Perhaps you may learn something. What's more, you may avoid sounding like an uneducated fool in doing so. (Myself, I have no qualms about sounding like a fool. But then, I'm a critic and reviewer, thus fooldom is my destiny. ^^)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84173204822005281322013-06-12T23:43:00.724-07:002013-06-12T23:43:00.724-07:00Now that's what I call pessimism:
To argue t...Now that's what I call pessimism: <br /><br />To argue that plot-laziness is the fundamental inspiration for, or source of, dystopias even though many dystopias are high comedy, caricatures, spoofs & parodies, designed to mock & challenge conventional perceptions.<br /><br />Pick your literary dystopia -- Fielding's 'Jonathan Wild', Voltaire's 'Candide', Well's 'The Time Machine', Huxley's 'Ape and Essence', Heinlein's 'If this goes on', 'Orwell's 'Animal Farm', Vonnegut's 'Player Piano', Golding's 'Lord of Flies', Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange', Dick's 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', Ballard's 'Highrise', (even) Card's 'Ender's Game', etc -- these are all hilarious burlesques that mock the trivial profundities of human existence. <br /><br />Tell me what it is that value you most -- religion, family, military service, honour, harmony, conformity, society, comfort, virility, maturity, technology or sexuality -- and I will point you to a literary source that will show you that these timeless human themes are merely self-delusion, the "vanity of vanities".<br /><br />Reread '1984' and tell me that this novel is not ridiculously funny. The protagonist misbehaves in a petulant manner; he gets called to task for cheating on his morning exercise; he loses his mother (he believes) because he stole a bar of chocolate; he is reunited with his mother only to find that he still prefers the chocolate; he has a passionate affair with a woman who he thinks he can't live without; he then believes that he can only live without this woman & finds her repulsive; and, ultimately, his rebelliousness earns him a posh promotion as an organization man.<br /><br />The lesson of the dystopia is this:<br />Life is far too important a topic to take too seriously.<br /><br />Scoff as if your life depends on it.<br /><br /><br />Best.<br /> locumranchnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31375826915366629242013-06-12T11:55:21.833-07:002013-06-12T11:55:21.833-07:00Re: Haynes Manuals that aren't for cars... bu...Re: Haynes Manuals that aren't for cars... but for wonderful spaceships of the future! <br /><br />Br. Brin - thank you for bringing this to my attention. As an expat Brit, I grew up on Dan Dare and Eagle comics. This is a wonderful addition to my DD collection. The classic cutaway style for the spacecraft is very cool.Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4249139615405695332013-06-12T11:50:11.145-07:002013-06-12T11:50:11.145-07:00Ha!
I suppose the AFRL is the 6th?
I liked how ...Ha! <br /><br />I suppose the AFRL is the 6th?<br /><br />I liked how Vinge had them survive the first bobble war.Alfred Differhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01170159981105973192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36669502019013728502013-06-12T09:37:46.586-07:002013-06-12T09:37:46.586-07:00The 2th Estate is the American Dental AssociationThe 2th Estate is the American Dental AssociationJumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13430039148741242502013-06-12T08:41:15.546-07:002013-06-12T08:41:15.546-07:00In "Existence" there are many references...In "Existence" there are many references to 2th Estate - 9th Estate. I get the normal 1-4 from french history but can someone provide a complete list as used in the novel. Thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69977024691902704742013-06-11T16:27:44.100-07:002013-06-11T16:27:44.100-07:00Sorry about multiple posts. Temporarily confused ...Sorry about multiple posts. Temporarily confused by Firefox. Apologies.agimarchttp://www.interestingitems.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-34529056164450848222013-06-11T16:24:48.388-07:002013-06-11T16:24:48.388-07:00You can find the new Firestone et all paper at the...You can find the new Firestone et all paper at the Cosmic Tusk, which investigates the YD hypothesis. Worth your while if interested. Cheers -<br /><br />http://cosmictusk.com/wittke_pnas_younger_dryas_clovis_comet/<br /><br />agimarchttp://www.interestingitems.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-14945464601122209642013-06-11T14:57:45.626-07:002013-06-11T14:57:45.626-07:00> the Portland city council
> approved a p...> the Portland city council <br />> approved a plan to start adding <br />> fluorine to the city's water.<br />-- Ars Technica<br /><br />Elementary, my dear Watson.Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61801113703198438692013-06-11T11:15:42.289-07:002013-06-11T11:15:42.289-07:00Firestone is one of those persistent people who ge...Firestone is one of those persistent people who gets his teeth into a theory and won't give it up. He keeps getting refuted, but comes back with another tack, which then gets refuted... Right now, the spectacular Younger Dryas airburst theory doesn't have enough evidence that can't be attributed to other causes. It doesn't fit Occam's Razor, but it's too showy and he has too much invested for him to abandon; he's hoping to be the next Alvarez.<br /><br />TheMadLibrarian<br />reason illuedd: O RLY?TheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64935151408491992362013-06-11T06:26:25.038-07:002013-06-11T06:26:25.038-07:00Re the Dryas boundary impact hypothesis: You didn&...Re the Dryas boundary impact hypothesis: You didn't provide a link. Firestone's paper was 2007, Haynes rebutted in 2010; I didn't find anything newer in a quick Goggle search. I'd love to see what's more recent.Joe Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09083738933624003227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32458693743089585292013-06-10T18:43:56.899-07:002013-06-10T18:43:56.899-07:00One of the members of my old (Livermore, CA) rocke...One of the members of my old (Livermore, CA) rocket club was an expatriate Brit. <br /><br />He brought to launches a series of scratch-built model rockets based on Dan Dare spacecraft.<br /><br />His craftsmanship and materials weren't the best. The rounded shapes looked like they were molded from paper machie. But DANG, they were wonderfully elaborate things and they did fly. I would love to see him make revised version using a 3D printer and a machine shop.<br /><br />* * *<br /><br />Freeman Dyson wrote an essay, maybe collected in <i>Weapons and Hope</i>, about comedy and tragedy and south pole exploration. I mention this because it relates to the dystopian vs utopian fiction question.<br /><br />Dyson noted that <i>comedy</i> once had a broader definition; tales of derring do in which the hero overcame obstacles and ultimately won out. Homer's Odyssey could be considered a comedy under this definition. Contrast that with tragedy, when the characters are set up to fail.<br /><br />So. What I think we need are comedies. Maybe the end result is a society a stop closer to a better society. Stefan Joneshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-21362314677483727442013-06-10T18:29:48.118-07:002013-06-10T18:29:48.118-07:00Why dystopias? (Warning, I'm going to ramble o...Why dystopias? (Warning, I'm going to ramble on a bit!)<br /><br />You know, this question made me sit back and contemplate something. Part of this lies with the fact that my own non-fanfic science fiction is a borderline dystopia. Of course, I set it around 18 years in the future and wiped out a quarter of the U.S. population back in 1996... so to bring about some interesting scenarios (for instance, the labor shortage resulted in the bootstrapping of technologies that encouraged the creation of synthetic muscles and then android laborers). <br /><br />And it makes sense that after a widescale loss of urban life that government itself would go a little "odd" - in fact, some of the behaviors of the Republican Party could, in theory, be considered an organizational form of post-traumatic stress syndrome! (I inflict this harm on the Democrats, as the attack started with the assassination of President Clinton and an attempt on Vice-President Gore.)<br /><br />Still... why dystopias? Well, I suppose the first question is this: at what point is a story a dystopia? I mean, Ilona Andrews created a form of post-apocalyptic America in which technology is being destroyed slowly by waves of magic... but the government still works, humanity is adapting, and even learning the rules of this new ruleset! Thus I'm not sure that would be considered a dystopia.<br /><br />Likewise, Dr. Brin himself created a world in which things were slowly spiraling out of control, where the aristocrats were planning to seize the reins of power, and the effects of global warming were being felt. Yet it wasn't a dystopia, despite those elements. How do these stories differ from dystopias?<br /><br />Perhaps it's whether people have any power or control. In <i>1984</i>, the State controlled nearly everything. In <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> books were burned and stories were relegated to memory and verbal retellings. (Yet in one, there is some power for individuals. You can choose to memorize a book and pass it on to others in turn.)<br /><br />When you look at those dystopias, one thing stands out: an ordinary person can <i>try</i> to be something more. A person can learn a book and pass it on to others. An ordinary worker has far more freedom than the middle class in <i>1984</i>. But how do you create a hero out of an ordinary person in a non-dystopian story?<br /><br />Perhaps the truth is that true heroes are those who act when the time comes. Thus a person who performs CPR is a hero. Someone who rushes into traffic to save a child is a hero. And on down the line. The truth is, it's actually <i>easy</i> to make someone a hero. The problem is finding a reason for them to <i>be</i> a hero.<br /><br />(And with my own stories, that is an amusing problem. I've one heroine who considers herself the greatest phony. She sees selfish reasons for all her actions. She benefits from helping others... and thus feels like her actions do not make her a better person. Yet at the core, her self-hatred is because she survived... when someone she cared for did not. Yet that moment shaped her. And while she doesn't think of herself as a hero, ultimately she is.)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-25685427422479531262013-06-10T18:21:41.168-07:002013-06-10T18:21:41.168-07:00There have been Haynes Manuals for non-cars before...There have been Haynes Manuals for non-cars before:<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/U-S-S-Enterprise-Manual-Haynes-Workshop/dp/1844259412Jonathan S.noreply@blogger.com