6 ms·

Having just watched Black Mirror and Westworld, I was totally bummed about how much near-future sci-fi is so goddamned depressing. Yesterday I decided to reread

by imh 10y ago

Having just watched Black Mirror and Westworld, I was totally bummed about how much near-future sci-fi is so goddamned depressing. Yesterday I decided to reread a story I love, "The Lifecycle of Software Objects," coincidentally also by Ted Chiang. It's a nice AI story that you can get through in one sitting. Highly recommend. Read it here: http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2010/fiction_the_lifecycle_of_software_objects_by_ted_chiang/ http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/fall_2010/fiction_the_...

wyager 10y ago
That might be my favorite Ted Chiang story overall. Unfortunately Hollywood couldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, so I'm not expecting a movie out of it any time soon. His biblical fiction is quite good as well, and I could see them getting movie adaptations.
- bangonkeyboard 10y ago
  I'm not sure that "Lifecycle" is less palatable to mainstream Hollywood than "Hell Is the Absence of God", but would be thrilled to be wrong.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - wyager 10y ago
    I think Absence could be done as a cool horror movie, kind of like Legion but not shitty and more existential.
- nine_k 10y ago
  Consider "72 letters": it's brilliant, long but no overly long, packed with ideas and plot twists, and it does stand a chance of becoming a Hollywood movie. (Not that the latter is necessarily a good thing, but still.)
- sooheon 10y ago
  s/unfortunately/fortunately I disagree with your implication that a Hollywood adaptation is the ultimate aspiration of all written works.
  - wyager 10y ago
    I quite enjoyed Arrival. If all of Chiang's stories could get adaptations of similar quality I would be quite happy.
Sukotto 10y ago
I recently started reading through his work. And although I've enjoyed his stories in general, they have all been solidly in the "depressing" category for me. So far I have read "Story of your life", "Exhalation", "72 letters", "Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", "Divide by Zero", "Understand", "What's Expected of us", and "Hell is the Absence of God". I am about 50% through "Lifecycle of Software Objects". So far, the stories all seem built on the foundation that we reside in an immutable clockwork universe and that the notion of "Free Will" is a complete illusion. It is this combination of absence of free will and "the future is already set and there is nothing you can do about it" that I find depressing. That I am merely a meat robot programmed to act in specific ways and that my actions therefore have no real meaning (because they are no chosen, but simply a result of my program). The only real exception so far as been "Hell is the Absence of God" which was a black comedy exploration of "what if there really was a God, and he was a complete asshole?" which was depressing in it's own special way :) That said... On the whole I find Chiang's stories engaging, imaginative, and well crafted. Recommended reading if you like near-future science fiction, AI, time travel, or genetics.
- sooheon 10y ago
  Slight spoilers for Exhalation ahead. > So far, the stories all seem built on the foundation that we reside in an immutable clockwork universe and that the notion of "Free Will" is a complete illusion. I do not find this depressing, because that is how reality appears to me. I can't say for sure if that's what Ted Chiang thinks as well, but the way I interpret his work is that he is attempting to point out the beauty in the universe as it is, not as it might appear to be. The protagonist of Exhalation is a perfect example. Having pulled aside the veil to the inner workings of his mind (the movement of air through intricate channels is in principle, deterministic, there is hardly room for "free will"), he finds greater understanding and an expansive wonder at what life is, not depression.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    I wholeheartedly agree. I just read Exhalation, and I actually found the end rather uplifting. When presented with the same realities we face, the focus on the positive and the still unknown exemplifies the best of the human spirit (even if presented through the lense of an alien).

by imh 10y ago

wyager 10y ago

That might be my favorite Ted Chiang story overall. Unfortunately Hollywood couldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, so I'm not expecting a movie out of it any time soon. His biblical fiction is quite good as well, and I could see them getting movie adaptations.

bangonkeyboard 10y ago
I'm not sure that "Lifecycle" is less palatable to mainstream Hollywood than "Hell Is the Absence of God", but would be thrilled to be wrong.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- wyager 10y ago
  I think Absence could be done as a cool horror movie, kind of like Legion but not shitty and more existential.
nine_k 10y ago
Consider "72 letters": it's brilliant, long but no overly long, packed with ideas and plot twists, and it does stand a chance of becoming a Hollywood movie. (Not that the latter is necessarily a good thing, but still.)
sooheon 10y ago
s/unfortunately/fortunately I disagree with your implication that a Hollywood adaptation is the ultimate aspiration of all written works.
- wyager 10y ago
  I quite enjoyed Arrival. If all of Chiang's stories could get adaptations of similar quality I would be quite happy.

Sukotto 10y ago

I recently started reading through his work. And although I've enjoyed his stories in general, they have all been solidly in the "depressing" category for me. So far I have read "Story of your life", "Exhalation", "72 letters", "Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate", "Divide by Zero", "Understand", "What's Expected of us", and "Hell is the Absence of God". I am about 50% through "Lifecycle of Software Objects". So far, the stories all seem built on the foundation that we reside in an immutable clockwork universe and that the notion of "Free Will" is a complete illusion. It is this combination of absence of free will and "the future is already set and there is nothing you can do about it" that I find depressing. That I am merely a meat robot programmed to act in specific ways and that my actions therefore have no real meaning (because they are no chosen, but simply a result of my program). The only real exception so far as been "Hell is the Absence of God" which was a black comedy exploration of "what if there really was a God, and he was a complete asshole?" which was depressing in it's own special way :) That said... On the whole I find Chiang's stories engaging, imaginative, and well crafted. Recommended reading if you like near-future science fiction, AI, time travel, or genetics.

sooheon 10y ago
Slight spoilers for Exhalation ahead. > So far, the stories all seem built on the foundation that we reside in an immutable clockwork universe and that the notion of "Free Will" is a complete illusion. I do not find this depressing, because that is how reality appears to me. I can't say for sure if that's what Ted Chiang thinks as well, but the way I interpret his work is that he is attempting to point out the beauty in the universe as it is, not as it might appear to be. The protagonist of Exhalation is a perfect example. Having pulled aside the veil to the inner workings of his mind (the movement of air through intricate channels is in principle, deterministic, there is hardly room for "free will"), he finds greater understanding and an expansive wonder at what life is, not depression.
- kbenson 10y ago
  I wholeheartedly agree. I just read Exhalation, and I actually found the end rather uplifting. When presented with the same realities we face, the focus on the positive and the still unknown exemplifies the best of the human spirit (even if presented through the lense of an alien).