3 ms·

I think Snowcrash is intentionally campy and satirical? At any rate I don't think what science fiction writers do is "exploring possible futures" so much as "t

I think Snowcrash is intentionally campy and satirical? At any rate I don't think what science fiction writers do is "exploring possible futures" so much as "telling lies for fun and profit" as one author entitled his fiction writing craft book.

themadturk 4y ago
Exploring possible futures is exactly what sf writers do as is telling lies for fun and profit. Predicting possible futures is not part of their job description, though sometimes it seems that way.
- anotherman554 4y ago
  What the science fiction writers explores doesn't have to be possible futures, it can be impossible ones. And some science fiction, like Stranger Things, is set in the past. In fact it's been a while since I read Snowcrash but it's set implausibly close to when it was written in 1992. This is presumably intentional.
BorgHunter 4y ago
"Intentionally campy and satirical" and "chillingly predictive" are not mutually exclusive. The movie Idiocracy has probably become the canonical example in that space. In any case, speculative fiction is usually more about the present than it is about the future. The original Star Trek, for instance, dealt quite a bit with the racial politics of the 1960s, even though it was set in the 2260s. The hypercapitalism in Snow Crash (and other cyberpunk works around that time) reflected the trend of American society in the 1980s and 90s. It was less "telling lies" and more logical extrapolation of the existing trend, which hasn't really been arrested since, either.
- anotherman554 4y ago
  It's "telling lies" in the sense that I wouldn't expect the author to think that the plot of the book, or anything like it, is a logical extrapolation of existing trends. Could hyper corporatization of America continue? Sure. Might the author be commenting on present trends? Absolutely. Does the book's author actually believe the mafia might hire street samurai to do pizza deliveries? Probably not.

themadturk 4y ago

Exploring possible futures is exactly what sf writers do as is telling lies for fun and profit. Predicting possible futures is not part of their job description, though sometimes it seems that way.

anotherman554 4y ago
What the science fiction writers explores doesn't have to be possible futures, it can be impossible ones. And some science fiction, like Stranger Things, is set in the past. In fact it's been a while since I read Snowcrash but it's set implausibly close to when it was written in 1992. This is presumably intentional.

BorgHunter 4y ago

"Intentionally campy and satirical" and "chillingly predictive" are not mutually exclusive. The movie Idiocracy has probably become the canonical example in that space. In any case, speculative fiction is usually more about the present than it is about the future. The original Star Trek, for instance, dealt quite a bit with the racial politics of the 1960s, even though it was set in the 2260s. The hypercapitalism in Snow Crash (and other cyberpunk works around that time) reflected the trend of American society in the 1980s and 90s. It was less "telling lies" and more logical extrapolation of the existing trend, which hasn't really been arrested since, either.

anotherman554 4y ago
It's "telling lies" in the sense that I wouldn't expect the author to think that the plot of the book, or anything like it, is a logical extrapolation of existing trends. Could hyper corporatization of America continue? Sure. Might the author be commenting on present trends? Absolutely. Does the book's author actually believe the mafia might hire street samurai to do pizza deliveries? Probably not.