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Not to take anything away from John Brunner's 1975 classic, but EM Forster's The Machine Stops[1][2] was even more prescient. Written in 1909, it predicted (in
by pmoriarty 6y ago
Not to take anything away from John Brunner's 1975 classic, but EM Forster's The Machine Stops[1][2] was even more prescient.
Written in 1909, it predicted (in very rough, general form) something like the Internet, Internet addiction, video chat rooms, and virtual reality.
He also wrote another short story which I consider to be even better than The Machine Stops. It's called The Other Side of the Hedge[3], and while it's not as prescient it's one of my favorite short stories and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops
[2] - https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machine-Stops.pdf https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machi...
[3] - http://www.101bananas.com/library2/otherside.html http://www.101bananas.com/library2/otherside.html
- inquirerofsorts 6y agoWernher Von Braun wrote a fictional book about his non-fictional Mars proposal, with a character named Elon in it. https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/7wqnk4/werhern_von_brauns_prediction_about_elon/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/7wqnk4/werher...
- JPLeRouzic 6y agoI quickly read the page where it is mentioned and it seems that "Elon" is a title, not a name. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5sULaqBIp0QVXJCLWdRYjZZNGc/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5sULaqBIp0QVXJCLWdRYjZZNGc... "The Martian government was directed by ten men, the leader of whom was elected by universal suffrage for five years and entitled "Elon." Two houses of Parliament enacted the laws to be administered by the Elon and his cabinet. The Upper House was called the Council of the Elders and was limited to a membership of 60 persons, each being appointed for life by the Elon as vacancies occurred by death. In principle, the method was not unlike that by which the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church is appointed. Usually the Elon chose historians, churchmen, former cabinet members or successful economic leaders who could offer lifetimes of valuable experience."
- mikequinlan 6y ago[2] might be https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machine-Stops.pdf https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machi... instead.
- pmoriarty 6y agoSorry about that. Broken link fixed.
- jacobush 6y agoThe Machine Stops also has basically Spotify in it. Also a pretty prescient detail given radio was rather new in 1909. But the whole premise is incredible, so spot on.
- 082349872349872 6y agoAs I read The Other Side of the Hedge (which I agree is better) just after having read Fratelli Tutti[1], the ambiguity of its final possessive is striking. It's so striking that I've attempted to actively use a second language[2] to reinterpret the final sentence: Demang me ta finyish leta-kom biya im, im ta du terash ruserux mi fo shelaf fo mi finyish sensa seping biya, unte detim im du ting, mi ta vide im demang beratna mi. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24684152 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24684152 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24675256 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24675256
- amelius 6y agoSo, if Bill Gates had read more sci-fi, he could have had a better vision about the significance of the internet ...