The fantasy of a benign group knowing and influencing the future (see
The Future) contrasts sharply with our experience in which the future is unknown but increasingly threatening and it is necessary to struggle against apparently insurmountable odds. Our position is not that of Odin, who foreknows the outcome of Ragnarok, but that of Dominic Flandry who knows that the Empire will fall but not how soon and also that it is possible to do some good in the meantime. However, a multi-planetary realm is more secure than a single planet...
We are in direr straits than many of our fictional characters.
2 comments:
Yup. One reason we need to push the technological frontiers as Musk has done -- both with EV's, renewable energy, grid-level electricity storage, and space colonization.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: And my view is that Dominic Flandry was vastly more successful than he usually dared to hope for! We even see him expressing hope the Empire might survive a couple more centuries at the end of THE GAME OF EMPIRE.
Mr. Stirling: Absolute agreement! I tried to do my bit to help Musk in a tiny way by buying ten shares of stock in Tesla (despite hesitating at shares costing over 400 dollars each!).
Ad astra! Sean
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