Wednesday 28 June 2017

Futures

Fictional futures are either high- or low-tech. Some people would prefer to live in the latter. Anyone who is good with horses, archery and survival skills might be able to thrive in SM Stirling's Emberverse. To prefer to live in such a future would not be to approve of all the deaths by starvation and violence during the Change.

However, I would prefer to live in Poul Anderson's Technic civilization because:

I appreciate the benefits of civilization and technology;

we would be enriched by living in an interstellar civilization even if we were never among the few who travelled between planetary systems;

although I am not a scientific practitioner, I do want scientific knowledge to continue to increase;

Technic civilization would even provide opportunities to practise styles of living closer to nature, e.g., on Freehold or in secluded areas of Avalon.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Like you, I would NOT prefer to live in a low tech society, at least because of how badly I would adjust to it. And I too would prefer to live in Technic civilization. For the reasons you gave. Btw, I think millions of people of all races within the Empire traveled between the stars every year. Recall how even someone as awkwardly large as Fr. Axor was able to "bum" his way around the Empire despite his modest means.

Yes, there was a wide variety of many different kinds of societies among both humans and non humans within the Empire. All that was really required of them was that they live in peace with one another and pay a reasonable tribute to the Imperium.

Sean