Science Fiction is Obsolete?

POSTED BY: cljohnston108
UPDATED: Thursday, August 2, 2007 22:56
VIEWED: 7663
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CLJOHNSTON108

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 11:07 AM

This was posted on SciFi Scanner, and I thought some of you would like to discuss the author's assertion "that science fiction, the genre that lit the way for a nervous mankind as it crept through the shadows of the 20th century, has suddenly and entirely ceased to matter."

Blinded by Science: Fictional Reality | Technology | DISCOVER Magazine
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/aug/blinded-by-science/article_view?b
_start:int=0&-C=

________________________

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EVILDINOSAUR

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 5:53 PM

I disagree lol. I think theres still plenty of relevant topics one can write about in the realm of science fiction.

"Haha, mine is an evil laugh."

CITIZEN

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 6:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by cljohnston108:
This was posted on SciFi Scanner, and I thought some of you would like to discuss the author's assertion "that science fiction, the genre that lit the way for a nervous mankind as it crept through the shadows of the 20th century, has suddenly and entirely ceased to matter."

Indeed, now that we have warp drive and have made contact with alien species, and science has answered all questions of existence, matter energy and philosophy, what is there for science fiction to talk about.

No wait...

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

SIGMANUNKI

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 7:36 PM

Science fiction has *never* been popular relative to the main stream, and it never will. This doesn't mean it's dead, it just means it'll never be in the main stream. There's just too few Sci-Fi people to get it to that level.

Probably has something to do with the average Sci-Fi person has /much/ higher standards than the average "other" person. Costs time and money to produce something worth while ya know

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 7:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:

Probably has something to do with the average Sci-Fi person has /much/ higher standards than the average "other" person. Costs time and money to produce something worth while ya know

Ah, the elitist rantings of a true SF person.....

I agree

Chrisisall

SAFEAT2ND

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:18 PM

I think a lot of it also has to do with the fact that when writers like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were writing, there was sooo much unexplored.

As a species we've developed the technology to shine a light in areas that were previously dark or even shaded. Yeah there is, I feel, less to write about but that doesn't mean the quality of Sci-fi should diminish. Quite the opposite. There are a lot of 'lazy' writers out there that just rehash old ideas because it's too hard to come up with new ones. BUT, the ones that have that...spark... THAT is where the good Sci-fi will come from.

I don't think Sci-fi is dead, I think the borders have been blurred is all.

_______________________________________________________________
"Got a headful of lightning
And a heart full of rain
And I know that I said
I'd never do it again
Oh and I love you sweet baby but I always take the long way home."

JONGSSTRAW

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:31 PM

I think E.T & Star Wars and it's sequels are about as close to "mainstream" as sci-fi has ever gotten. The problem with anything "mainstream" is that it usually means it's crap....dumbed-down, stupidity meant for assimilation of the masses of asses...ie, those that either don't read, or are hooked fans of So You Think You Can Burp Louder Than a Redneck...or some go se like that.
As far as future sci-fi...the possibilities still seem endless to me, and I'm pretty dumb myself.

FINN MAC CUMHAL

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:58 PM

I think the problem lies in what he is comparing. He takes Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon and H.G. Wells’ Time Machine and compares them to Crichton’s Timeline and Prey. Why not compare them to Crichton’s Jurrassic Park and Sphere? Why Timeline and Prey? He’s comparing heavyweight science fiction classics to lightweight stories, and what he ends up measuring is not the value of science fiction but the value of standard of living. In the 19th century, books were relatively rare and fairly expensive to write. Today any idiot with a version of Word on his PC can pump out a professionally edited story. Michael Crichton is one of the all-time greats of science fiction, but producing novels is so easy and competitive these days (compared to the 19th c.) that he can pump out these action stories for the masses with little investment. This is something neither Verne nor Wells could have ever done, but this doesn’t mean that modern science fiction is crap. Sure, if you take an average over all science fiction written in the last 30 years, and compare it to the average of all science fiction written in 19th century, modern science fiction looks like crap, but that’s not because there aren’t just as many great works of science fiction today as there were then.

I suspect, this guy is just taking his disgust with the poor social skills of science fiction authors out on the work. True Verne and Wells probably dressed in three piece suits and no one wants to sit next to a man who hasn’t bathed since his mother took away his Luke Skywalker doll. But let’s be honest, being beautiful or bathing is not a prerequisite for every kind of greatness. We should judge the science fiction writers of our time by their fabulous works, not the pee stains on their sweats.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

SIGMANUNKI

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 10:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:

Ah, the elitist rantings of a true SF person.....

I agree Chrisisall

Just look at the standard tv today. It's pretty much all reality tv crap. No social/political/etc commentary at all. Nothing clever, nothing subtle.

So, IMO, it isn't elitist to point that out. It's just mentioning a fact.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, July 24, 2007 11:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:

Just look at the standard tv today. It's pretty much all reality tv crap. No social/political/etc commentary at all. Nothing clever, nothing subtle.

Yeah, for every Dark Angel, there's 20 So You Think You Can Burp Louder Than a Redneck?'s.

Quote:

So, IMO, it isn't elitist to point that out. It's just mentioning a fact.

Dude, don't be be makin' excuses; it's elitist just to be ABLE to point that out IMO.

Elite Chrisisall

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