4 ms·
I think optimistic scifi needs to lie a bit: - allow you to exceed the speed of light, or better yet portal somewhere - learn we are not alone in the universe
by m463 2y ago
I think optimistic scifi needs to lie a bit:
- allow you to exceed the speed of light, or better yet portal somewhere
- learn we are not alone in the universe
- store basically infinite energy in your hip-mounted blaster
- get the girl/guy in the end
- aleph_minus_one 2y ago> - learn we are not alone in the universe This is neither a message that is optimistic nor pessimistic. Isn't it much more likely that this species (despite having something that can be called "intelligence" in an appropriate sense) simply be so different that the difference is insanely much larger than between an human and an octopus? Example: Stanisław Lem; Solaris > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_(novel) where the alien species is an intelligent ocean.
- nathan_compton 2y agoEveryone read Solaris.
- blacksmith_tb 2y agoIt is of course an absolute classic, but funny to recommend in this thread, as it's probably the most pessimistic first contact story I can think of, in fact I think it raises serious questions about humans communicating successfully with each other (let alone anyone else).
- aleph_minus_one 2y ago> it's probably the most pessimistic first contact story I can think of 三体 by 刘慈欣 (English: "The Three-Body Problem" by Liu Cixin) is clearly a much more pessimistic first contact story. :-) And honestly: I did not find Solaris pessimistic; for me it was just a story about a first contact that fails because humanity still has a lot of things to learn.
- nathan_compton 2y agoI don't know - The Three Body Problem is certainly a _bummer_ but in a way it presents a universe where all lifeforms can at least identify with eachother with respect to the desire to out-compete everyone else for resources. The aliens in TTBP are basically just people. In Solaris we are presented with something genuinely alien to human beings with which communication is barely possible.
- nathan_compton 2y agoI think Greg Egan writes very optimistic science fiction that only really does 2 sort of. Exceeding the speed of light is, from my point of view, so absurd a premise as to make me feel that any hard science fiction which tries to get around it is not serious. Its not that I can't enjoy that kind of science fiction, its just I can't take it seriously as having anything to do with actually reckoning with our position in the universe as human beings. Universe Big.
- m463 2y agoWithout exceeding the speed of light, "Universe Big"... and universe too far away to explore. :( I guess we could have a story set it the far far (far!) future...
- IAmBroom 2y ago"This is exciting! If I live to be 70 I'll get to hear the response from the question my great-grandfather's generation sent to Omega-5!"
- nathan_compton 2y agoLife extension sort of solves this problem and is much more plausible.
- partomniscient 2y agoBut life extension will be for the rich. What's the point of extending your life if you're going to be surrounded by twats like Elon Musk all day every day...?
- nathan_compton 2y agoI think the idea is that in a post-scarcity society everyone gets it.