We need sage scifi. We need scifi culture that looks beyond the obvious, recognizes the emotional truths over academic truths. Yes, we need science fiction sagacity.
Continuing on my long-running ‘Sage Scifi’ topic – let’s cover something important: we should be people who treat kids like people. If we want to live in a world where we get to be mature, enjoy civilized discourse, and anti-racist, then we must acknowledge our responsibility to be persons that young people can feel safe…
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Ran across this post by Tom Bottelsen and it encapsulates one of the ‘must haves’ for science fiction: sage scifi should make progress feel possible. Here’s what he said: “If you look at all the other science fiction writers, they always view the world as getting to this post-apocalyptic, dystopian, horrible nightmare … Star Trek…
Let’s talk about another sage scifi idea you need: we must be connected. Simple, right? Deceptively so, for connection is a survival skill. As a species, our ability to cooperate is a must-have, especially as we contemplate whatever is going to happen next in our late-stage capitalism / boring dystopia. Disconnecting from each other will…
Today’s sage scifi discussion concerns social constructs and science fiction. What’s a social construct? Simple – A social construct is something that exists not in objective reality, but as a result of human interaction. It exists because humans agree that it exists. Another way of looking at this concept is through W.I. Thomas’s notable Thomas theorem which…
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Oh man, somebody pull the civilization fire alarm. Call the police, call the government, call somebody. Look at what our world has become – do you remember that mass shooting in Sacramento on Sunday? Did you hear Noam Chomsky say ‘We’re approaching the most dangerous point in human history?‘ Did you see the UN warning…
Click Here to Read Part One – So yesterday’s blog post was the beginning of a conversation about applying craftsmanship to scifi through the use of a ‘maturity model.’ I spent most of that post talking about ‘why we should think about this.’ Immaturity in science fiction represents an existential threat; ignore the disaster and…
Quick, want to nerd out about something? Forget dissecting another ‘who would win, the Enterprise or a Star Destroyer‘ argument. Instead, let’s talk scifi craftsmanship and maturity models. Would you believe that it’s possible to grow scifi as a genre and community? Would you like to be a part of that process? We can do…
“Kids need STEM” is a common news item in your local paper, so here are some notes on getting kids into STEM education. STEM education is increasing in popularity—more schools are incorporating STEM into their curriculum and making it a key part of what they teach. STEM can help students learn to think logically, improve…
Beautiful sunny day in Eugene, so let’s not waste it on negativity even though there’s a million things to hate about Reminisence. Rather, let’s talk about elevating science fiction by embracing the concept of ‘sage scifi.’ If sages are the ‘wise fools’ of life, then surely science fiction is ready for some of that wise…
A lot of noise this week about ‘woke culture,’ and some of that spills over to the sci-fi community. Taking this opportunity to say that if you want to fight ‘woke culture’ in sci-fi you have to realize the truth: there is no such thing as ‘woke sci-fi.’ Scifi has been woke since forever. Put…
