[Writingworkshop] SF as being about the present

[Adam Holland]

great essay, thanks!

On Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 9:43 PM, Adam Holland <adam.holland at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for all of the examples.
>
> I actually have "The Land Ironclads " in a volume right here in front of
> me.
> :)
>
> I was hoping to find something scholarly I could reference for a law review
> article.
> I will be writing about the coming disruptive technology of 3D rapid
> prototyping, and what the law needs to do to get ready for it, the way it
> didn't for the PC
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 5, 2008 at 9:41 PM, Neale Morison <neale at nealemorison.com>wrote:
>
>>  I don't know if I've seen an article about it, but it's a generally
>> accepted notion. You can only write about what you know, so writing about
>> the real future is out.
>> When we watched 2001 it was fun to see the late 60s fashions exaggerated
>> into the future, but essentially it was a Cold War in Space situation.
>> Kubrick did the same with A Clockwork Orange, intensifying aspects of the
>> present and calling it the future. The ties in particular
>> 40s Sci Fi largely involves fighting space Nazis in your space Cadillac.
>> It helps a lot to realize that you're creating a world no matter what genre
>> you write. Sci Fi seems to permit a more tailored, restricted world, with
>> maybe a tweak to a physical law or two, maybe some interesting technology to
>> offer a few more options to explore. But it's always about people doing that
>> people stuff they do.
>>
>> There's an essay here with a quote from Joseph Conrad to H. G. Wells:
>> http://www2.ku.edu/~sfcenter/tomorrow.htm<http://www2.ku.edu/%7Esfcenter/tomorrow.htm>
>>
>> Giving humanity over to the impossible, but retaining the humanity.
>>
>> Wells wrote "The Land Ironclads" in 1903 - envisaging a future in which
>> tanks dominated land warfare. As usual, he was right, but the title tells
>> you how he thought about it. When he write it sea ironclads, like the
>> Monitor and the Virginia, had been around for half a century, playing
>> leapfrog between armour and gunpower. The leap was to put the invulnerable
>> gun platforms on land. So the future is present day concepts, connected in a
>> new way.
>>
>>
>>
>> Adam Holland wrote:
>>
>> hi, guys,
>>
>> Any tips on where I might find some writings on the notion that SF is
>> really always about the present?
>> that is, a culture's vision of its future reflects how it sees itself and
>> it's potential?
>>
>> Adam
>>
>>
>> Reason?  Remind to to tell you about my law article topic another time
>>
>> * From the discomfort of truth there is only one refuge, and that is
>> ignorance.
>> I do not need to be comfortable, and I will not take refuge.
>> I demand to know.*
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Neale Morisonneale at nealemorison.comhttp://www.nealemorison.com
>> 35 Frazer St, Leichhardt NSW 2040
>> +61 417 661 427
>>
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