Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 15:18 (#154) I don't know about current authors and predictions for the next 50 years, and I am very much looking forward to what others contribute to this conversation. When I've gone back and reread some Gibson novels years after I first read them, though, I've sometimes been surprised at how prophetic some aspects of them seem (he hardly qualifies as a utopian, mind you). The same is true of some Stross, though that's really likely more a case of catching an emerging trend and expanding on where it might logically progress.Ok, people, hit me with a reading list. I need some horizons expanded. Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 2, Interesting) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 16:11 (#156) Ray Kurzweil? I'd hate to think Howey Hugh's Wool Trilogy is our future, though we're probably capable of it. (Great series, Wool, by the way). Interesting that this guy is considered a futurist, when his vision of the future only seems to be a few product cycles away, so 4-5 years at best. Is no one thinking long-term anymore, or is there no profit in that these days? Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 16:58 (#157) I must've read some Kurzweil at some point, as we've got plenty of scifi laying around (I have no excuse for being so scifi illiterate/ignorant), though I cannot recall. I'll definitely try to track that series down.Perhaps it's more difficult to recognize those long-term, far future predictions as they must, necessarily, be more removed from our current existence and therefor tend to be seen as "mere" fiction rather than as something potentially eventually achievable presented within a fictional framework. It's a lot easier to look like a prophet when predicting the near-possible almost-now. One doesn't have to wait as long, for a start. Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 20:20 (#159) Wow man - great looking book shelf, with what looks like lots of good stuff to read. Is that Asimov mag as good as it was reputed to be?
Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 2, Interesting) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 16:11 (#156) Ray Kurzweil? I'd hate to think Howey Hugh's Wool Trilogy is our future, though we're probably capable of it. (Great series, Wool, by the way). Interesting that this guy is considered a futurist, when his vision of the future only seems to be a few product cycles away, so 4-5 years at best. Is no one thinking long-term anymore, or is there no profit in that these days? Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 16:58 (#157) I must've read some Kurzweil at some point, as we've got plenty of scifi laying around (I have no excuse for being so scifi illiterate/ignorant), though I cannot recall. I'll definitely try to track that series down.Perhaps it's more difficult to recognize those long-term, far future predictions as they must, necessarily, be more removed from our current existence and therefor tend to be seen as "mere" fiction rather than as something potentially eventually achievable presented within a fictional framework. It's a lot easier to look like a prophet when predicting the near-possible almost-now. One doesn't have to wait as long, for a start. Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 20:20 (#159) Wow man - great looking book shelf, with what looks like lots of good stuff to read. Is that Asimov mag as good as it was reputed to be?
Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by songofthepogo@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 16:58 (#157) I must've read some Kurzweil at some point, as we've got plenty of scifi laying around (I have no excuse for being so scifi illiterate/ignorant), though I cannot recall. I'll definitely try to track that series down.Perhaps it's more difficult to recognize those long-term, far future predictions as they must, necessarily, be more removed from our current existence and therefor tend to be seen as "mere" fiction rather than as something potentially eventually achievable presented within a fictional framework. It's a lot easier to look like a prophet when predicting the near-possible almost-now. One doesn't have to wait as long, for a start. Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 20:20 (#159) Wow man - great looking book shelf, with what looks like lots of good stuff to read. Is that Asimov mag as good as it was reputed to be?
Re: Gibson, perhaps? (Score: 1) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-04-22 20:20 (#159) Wow man - great looking book shelf, with what looks like lots of good stuff to read. Is that Asimov mag as good as it was reputed to be?