Lisi Hocke6h ago
Nowhere Girl

It's interesting to me how many self-proclaimed sci-fi fans have never internalized the lessons of these stories beyond "spaceship good."

Because sci-fi isn't just about modern social problems in a fictional context any more than fantasy is attempting to reconstruct or rehabilitate the past.

Oftentimes it's theory crafting around how to address these problems which necessitate radical change!

7:04pmMoshidon
Show threadNowhere Girl8h ago
Instead we get people who want to build the Torment Nexus so they can get off on their dystopian hate crime fantasies.
Show threadNowhere Girl8h ago
Even fantasy can be more forward thinking than these paperclip maximizer weirdos.
Show threadWoozle Hypertwin7h ago
@gwynnion I have to think these are the same people who might say "I used to like Star Trek until it went all woke".
Show threadDave Volek7h ago

@gwynnion

Interesting post.

My experience with sci-fi is that, if the work is suggesting a solution, that solution has been applied in the past.

Show threadFrutiger6h ago
@gwynnion those are the same people that bought a clown fish after seeing 'finding nemo'.
Show threadBehrang6h ago
@gwynnion Some sci-fi movies worth thinking about. Many are just entertaining. And many more are not even entertaining. This is true about all kinds of movies (and books and music) though.
Show threadSchroedingers_Cat5h ago

@gwynnion Interesting. I think a lot of sci-fi is looking at existing situations, and seeing what happens if they progress. And by setting them in a different environment, it helps to put a focus on them.

And yes - it is about trying to see what possible solutions there might be. But often, there is just a simple "This is the implications of the current direction we are headed".

Of course, there is a lot of new versions and forms of sci-fi which are subtly different. So the genre is changing.