5 ms·

Sorry but this is total bunk. Moving an object the size of a grain of rice with sound waves is not a tractor beam. And I can go on and on. If I want this sort o

by rexreed 10y ago

Sorry but this is total bunk. Moving an object the size of a grain of rice with sound waves is not a tractor beam. And I can go on and on. If I want this sort of crap, I'll check my Facebook feed.

gaius 10y ago
I refer you to my last comment about the BBC https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13004593 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13004593
grzm 10y ago
I wonder what the decisions look like in the editorial room. Is there some staff member sneaking this in to appear like they're doing work and there's not that much oversight? Do they say we need filler? Something that will get impressions? The Features & Analysis sidebar includes the following compelling titles: - 100 Women 2016: Big names, astonishing untold stories: Find out who is on the list - Extremist in the family: He bought his mum a diamond necklace — then fled to join IS - Clock watching: The global business that starts every day at 9.06am precisely - Boudoir in the Holy Land: Why Orthodox Jewish women are embracing glamour shoots (replete with shot of the back of a topless woman) - Parental alienation: 'I was manipulated by my father' - Tata crisis: How do you sack a boss who won't go? and three more. I have a hard time distinguishing between the Features and Analysis pieces… To their credit, none of the articles start with "This", is obviously a listicle, or promises a "weird tip".
- rmc 10y ago
  > - 100 Women 2016: Big names, astonishing untold stories: Find out who is on the list That's actually an annual award/list thing from the BBC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Women_(BBC) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Women_(BBC)
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
Worse, the level of technical description in sci-fi, even in 'hard' sci-fi, is terribly low. You really can't say a submarine 'powered by the sun' is the same as predicting electric subs and neither do you get credit for such things unless you really delve into the justifications for such a 'prediction' and explain a fair degree on how it would all work. Or that the communicators in star trek have anything to do with smartphones and other low-effort comparisons. Double worse, ignoring the cherry-picking sci-fi tends to do a very poor job predicting anything. Its almost as if sci-fi is written to be dramatic and follow the rules of storytelling instead of some weird futurist exercise. I doubt Philip K Dick gave two shits about how realistic or futuristic his settings were. He was too focused on the characters and the story.
- icebraining 10y ago
  The best essay I've read on that is Ursula Le Guin's preface to Left Hand of Darkness: http://theliterarylink.com/leguinintro.html http://theliterarylink.com/leguinintro.html

by rexreed 10y ago

Sorry but this is total bunk. Moving an object the size of a grain of rice with sound waves is not a tractor beam. And I can go on and on. If I want this sort of crap, I'll check my Facebook feed.

gaius 10y ago

I refer you to my last comment about the BBC https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13004593 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13004593

grzm 10y ago

I wonder what the decisions look like in the editorial room. Is there some staff member sneaking this in to appear like they're doing work and there's not that much oversight? Do they say we need filler? Something that will get impressions? The Features & Analysis sidebar includes the following compelling titles: - 100 Women 2016: Big names, astonishing untold stories: Find out who is on the list - Extremist in the family: He bought his mum a diamond necklace — then fled to join IS - Clock watching: The global business that starts every day at 9.06am precisely - Boudoir in the Holy Land: Why Orthodox Jewish women are embracing glamour shoots (replete with shot of the back of a topless woman) - Parental alienation: 'I was manipulated by my father' - Tata crisis: How do you sack a boss who won't go? and three more. I have a hard time distinguishing between the Features and Analysis pieces… To their credit, none of the articles start with "This", is obviously a listicle, or promises a "weird tip".

rmc 10y ago
> - 100 Women 2016: Big names, astonishing untold stories: Find out who is on the list That's actually an annual award/list thing from the BBC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Women_(BBC) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Women_(BBC)

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

Worse, the level of technical description in sci-fi, even in 'hard' sci-fi, is terribly low. You really can't say a submarine 'powered by the sun' is the same as predicting electric subs and neither do you get credit for such things unless you really delve into the justifications for such a 'prediction' and explain a fair degree on how it would all work. Or that the communicators in star trek have anything to do with smartphones and other low-effort comparisons. Double worse, ignoring the cherry-picking sci-fi tends to do a very poor job predicting anything. Its almost as if sci-fi is written to be dramatic and follow the rules of storytelling instead of some weird futurist exercise. I doubt Philip K Dick gave two shits about how realistic or futuristic his settings were. He was too focused on the characters and the story.

icebraining 10y ago
The best essay I've read on that is Ursula Le Guin's preface to Left Hand of Darkness: http://theliterarylink.com/leguinintro.html http://theliterarylink.com/leguinintro.html