Is science fiction dying?

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Pulsar_t
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Is science fiction dying?

Post by Pulsar_t »

http://salon.com/a/scyAfAA

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Most of the fiction I read is scifi, I seldom feel short on material to consume. An interesting read nonetheless.
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Bikeage
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by Bikeage »

I stopped reading the article soon after the author stated that the sci fi genre was born in 1926. What's really dying is journalism.
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by Flake »

Lol, 1926? So then what was 'The Time Machine'? Non-Fiction?
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by dsheinem »

Bikeage wrote:I stopped reading the article soon after the author stated that the sci fi genre was born in 1926. What's really dying is journalism.

He said "genre sci fi" started in 1926. Not sure what that means, though.
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Bikeage
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by Bikeage »

Ok, I went back and read the entire article, and thought it was more of a shill for select modern and recent sci fi works (conveniently available at Barnes and Noble) rather than an examination of the genre's current state.

Of course, the piece was designed to create more awareness of these books, so mission accomplished.
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CRTGAMER
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by CRTGAMER »

Pulsar_t wrote: http://salon.com/a/scyAfAA

Most of the fiction I read is scifi, I seldom feel short on material to consume. An interesting read nonetheless.
Good choice of your pic from that great movie, "Like tears in the rain, all these moments lost." True that the wonder of what Sci Fi fiction and movies has to offer is not as amazing as it were a few decades ago. The audience is not as wowed because of all the tech exposure we currently have. I think there is still so much more to discover, hell I'm still waiting for my personal flying car.
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Xonticus
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by Xonticus »

I think we are becoming disillusioned to classic scifi because before it was seen like Star Trek and Blade Runner as being far in the future. Now that we are in "the future" we are closer to the realities and technologies that are portrayed in these films and books, and are trying to come to terms with this, and also the things that we never got (the flying car being mainstream, for example).

In the original star trek series, they had tablet computers, in Dick Tracey he had a mobile phone and screen in his watch, Total Recall we had wall TV's that were extremely flat, etc.

GPS, The Internet, holograms, virtual reality, commercial space travel... many of it are here in full force and/or being fully developed and exploited. The question is, where do we go now? Many predicted either a full-on dystopian society or an ideal, free society where the human condition is the only limit.

I think at this point, sci-fi will evolve into a genre that continues to question our humanity in future, asking more specific questions to technology and how it relates to the way we live and exist. There will be deeper evaluations on nanotechnology, bionics and technology that will physically change us. Not only are we changing the world around us, but with these new technologies we are being affected emotionally, physically and they become integrated, ingrained in our self-identity as a people. These topics have been touched upon before, but I believe we will end up diving headlong into these subjects even further than we have already.

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GamerMON
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by GamerMON »

CRTGAMER wrote:
Pulsar_t wrote: http://salon.com/a/scyAfAA

Most of the fiction I read is scifi, I seldom feel short on material to consume. An interesting read nonetheless.
Good choice of your pic from that great movie, "Like tears in the rain, all these moments lost." True that the wonder of what Sci Fi fiction and movies has to offer is not as amazing as it were a few decades ago. The audience is not as wowed because of all the tech exposure we currently have. I think there is still so much more to discover, hell I'm still waiting for my personal flying car.
In a Isaac Asimov book ( I think it was Asimov on Astronomy), he talks about how before Scientists learned that Venus was uninhabitable it was fashionable to write about colonizing/exploring the planet in scifi. Then the actual science got in the way of the Sci Fi. I think the same is happening. We have smart phones that can do what a Tricorder can do (not that anyone uses smart phones for anything useful) What we think is amazing our children will look at us and say "Dad that is just an Iphone no one cares". Tricorders have lost their charm now because they don't have the features we feel are needed now How you gonna send bitches smiley facees on Tricorder?
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Xonticus
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by Xonticus »

GamerMON wrote:How you gonna send bitches smiley facees on Tricorder?
:lol:
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Re: Is science fiction dying?

Post by GamerMON »

God I am dyslexic. At least I don't blame my addictions on it.
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