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I wonder what parts of modern sci-fi we will regard as hopelessly outdated in a hundred years, as we might view many elements of the Foundation series? Perhaps

I wonder what parts of modern sci-fi we will regard as hopelessly outdated in a hundred years, as we might view many elements of the Foundation series? Perhaps we'll achieve Ghost in the Shell-style brain encapsulation, and so view any sci-fi story that doesn't feature people trivially swapping bodies as needed - despite having FTL and laser guns - as hopelessly outdated and silly. Perhaps we'll become increasingly invested in our digital lives and robot servants, to the point we view old sci-fi that involved physically sending humans to other worlds just to stand around on them as extremely dangerous and wasteful? Though on a somewhat different angle, I've quite enjoyed watching many fantasy stories "update" themselves to be more amenable to a modern audience. For example magic powers have slowly morphed from Gandalf style vague mutterings and the occasional flashlight to basically being programs that a wizard can download, swap, upgrade, etc. It makes me wonder if one day when humanity has achieved immortality, if we'll "backport" it to our fantasy stories and suddenly every human kingdom has some magical doodad that makes them live forever?

crooked-v 8y ago
> For example magic powers have slowly morphed from Gandalf style vague mutterings and the occasional flashlight to basically being programs that a wizard can download, swap, upgrade, etc. That's a poor example, though, because that's closer to the classical depiction of magic than the "vague mutterings" type. The ancient Greeks and Romans had pretty firm rules on how to conduct prayers and ceremonies, how to handle certain mystical phenomena, etc., for example. In Western pop culture, magic being all about unexplainable forces was an invention of Victorian romanticism.
int_19h 8y ago
> magic powers have slowly morphed from Gandalf style vague mutterings and the occasional flashlight to basically being programs that a wizard can download, swap, upgrade, etc. There's a (not particularly good) Russian fantasy book series where the premise is literally that - it's the usual "regular guy ends up in a magic world" kind of set-up, except that the guy is a software developer, and he discovers that magic is a great deal like OOP, and that his skills translate remarkably well. Of course, it's mostly just a Mary Sue story - the author being a Java developer, so far as I can tell - but it's interesting that someone else came up with this metaphor and developed it to that extent.
- dahdum 8y ago
  There is a current series by Scott Meyer that is similar, where engineers occasionally discover the world they live in is a simulation, and they can manipulate it like magic through programming. Light but enjoyable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Meyer_(author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Meyer_(author)
  - lou1306 8y ago
    Isn't that basically the same as The Matrix? Moreover, Thomas Anderson/Neo was also a software engineer...
    - dahdum 8y ago
      In the series the characters are also simulations. They can modify themselves by tweaking the "file", and spells are just little programs they write against it. There isn't any other reality they have access to.

crooked-v 8y ago

> For example magic powers have slowly morphed from Gandalf style vague mutterings and the occasional flashlight to basically being programs that a wizard can download, swap, upgrade, etc. That's a poor example, though, because that's closer to the classical depiction of magic than the "vague mutterings" type. The ancient Greeks and Romans had pretty firm rules on how to conduct prayers and ceremonies, how to handle certain mystical phenomena, etc., for example. In Western pop culture, magic being all about unexplainable forces was an invention of Victorian romanticism.

int_19h 8y ago

> magic powers have slowly morphed from Gandalf style vague mutterings and the occasional flashlight to basically being programs that a wizard can download, swap, upgrade, etc. There's a (not particularly good) Russian fantasy book series where the premise is literally that - it's the usual "regular guy ends up in a magic world" kind of set-up, except that the guy is a software developer, and he discovers that magic is a great deal like OOP, and that his skills translate remarkably well. Of course, it's mostly just a Mary Sue story - the author being a Java developer, so far as I can tell - but it's interesting that someone else came up with this metaphor and developed it to that extent.

dahdum 8y ago
There is a current series by Scott Meyer that is similar, where engineers occasionally discover the world they live in is a simulation, and they can manipulate it like magic through programming. Light but enjoyable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Meyer_(author) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Meyer_(author)
- lou1306 8y ago
  Isn't that basically the same as The Matrix? Moreover, Thomas Anderson/Neo was also a software engineer...
  - dahdum 8y ago
    In the series the characters are also simulations. They can modify themselves by tweaking the "file", and spells are just little programs they write against it. There isn't any other reality they have access to.