(i) the role of mankind in the universe;
(ii) the role of intelligence, whether human, alien or artificial, in the universe;
(iii) the effects of technology on society.
This post refers, only briefly, to the works of just three successive sf authors:
Robert Heinlein;
Poul Anderson;
SM Stirling.
(i) Anderson's Tau Zero.
(ii) Alien intelligences: Anderson's Technic History, After Doomsday and many other works.
Artificial intelligence: Anderson's Genesis.
(iii) The opening stories of Heinlein's Future History and Anderson's Psychotechnic History. (Issues include nuclear power and technological unemployment.)
(i), (ii) and (iii) Anderson's Harvest Of Stars Tetralogy.
In order to address (iii), it is not necessary to write futuristic sf or even sf. Stirling's Theater Of Spies, set in 1916 (B), describes an early twentieth century city expanding to include new, large, electrically lit factories and smoking chimneys. Stirling conveys the excitement and danger of industrial technology transforming civilization.
2 comments:
Electrically lit factories and smoking chimneysI recognize that scene! 8-).
Kaor, Paul!
And you already know of the skepticism I have about the possibility of genuine artificial self awareness and intelligence being invented. And the idea of downloading copies of human personalities into artificial neural networks was a tough frog to swallow!
Sean
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