When I was a child most people could intuit most machines; or at least halfway guess how they worked.
I could see this in the golden age of science fiction. The technology, if and when when explained, made sense.
But now most people cannot understand technology, it requires the expertise of too many to design and create. I think in part that is why there is a trend towards magic. Future tech is more wizardly.
So, I think if sci-fi makes a comeback, it will be more a mix of fantasy and space
Again, I’ll point to China as a counter example. People there don’t see technology as magic, even though Chinese tech is just as complex.
I aslo don’t really agree that the tech in the golden age of sci-fi was simple. Take something like the Apollo program. Sure, people can understand the concept of a big rocket, but the details of how the whole thing works is beyond the ability of any one mind to comprehend.
I think the trend towards magic in the west is simply escapism. Most people don’t want to engage with the world that’s falling apart around them, and to contemplate the likely futures which are looking imcreasingly grim. So fantasy worlds that are divorced from lived reality become increasingly increasingly appealing.
But what do you think the popular science fiction will be like in the west should there be a better life? If the world was not falling apart and there was hope?
I think the current trends now would continue but have new elements. More fantasy and magic than science. I simply do not see hard science fiction ( that I like) bring as popular as before, even if everyone had a living wage, food to eat and a contentment.
I think it would look similar to what Chinese science fiction currently looks like. For example, check out anthologies Ken Liu translated or The Three-Body Problem.
I think technology will continue to increase.
When I was a child most people could intuit most machines; or at least halfway guess how they worked.
I could see this in the golden age of science fiction. The technology, if and when when explained, made sense.
But now most people cannot understand technology, it requires the expertise of too many to design and create. I think in part that is why there is a trend towards magic. Future tech is more wizardly.
So, I think if sci-fi makes a comeback, it will be more a mix of fantasy and space
Again, I’ll point to China as a counter example. People there don’t see technology as magic, even though Chinese tech is just as complex.
I aslo don’t really agree that the tech in the golden age of sci-fi was simple. Take something like the Apollo program. Sure, people can understand the concept of a big rocket, but the details of how the whole thing works is beyond the ability of any one mind to comprehend.
I think the trend towards magic in the west is simply escapism. Most people don’t want to engage with the world that’s falling apart around them, and to contemplate the likely futures which are looking imcreasingly grim. So fantasy worlds that are divorced from lived reality become increasingly increasingly appealing.
But what do you think the popular science fiction will be like in the west should there be a better life? If the world was not falling apart and there was hope?
I think the current trends now would continue but have new elements. More fantasy and magic than science. I simply do not see hard science fiction ( that I like) bring as popular as before, even if everyone had a living wage, food to eat and a contentment.
I think it would look similar to what Chinese science fiction currently looks like. For example, check out anthologies Ken Liu translated or The Three-Body Problem.