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The Future

I have a rather dim view of the future. I fear that towards the end of my lifetime I may begin to see the adverse effects of manmade climate change, and be distraught that there will be nothing more I can do to help abate it. I don’t currently plan on having children, so at least I’ll be contributing (by not contributing) in some way. The grand high flying space adventures of science fiction, while grand, will remain only stories on paper. I don’t think we will be leaving the planet. Humanity is too self-centered for that, too focused on the here and now to worry about consequences that will be evident in the next century, despite seeing the clear warning signs today. Beyond this, I am sure of nothing. It’s always amusing to read what people of the 1930s into the 1980s thought the future was going to be like. In many ways we progressed beyond their imaginations, inventing mini computers that act as both communication devices and ways to surf a global network of internet archives.
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The Bizarre Ordinariness of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy uses normal everyday human events, and blows them up to a galactic scale to the point of ridiculous parody. Even in the opening pages this idea is embodied, as a man who is stubbornly refusing to move out of his house so the government can build a highway through it, witnesses the destruction of Earth so the intergalactic government can build a highway through it. It asks hard-hitting questions such as, if AI gained sentience, could it also develop depression? If you asked a calculator what the meaning of life is, what would it respond with? Even in a highly advanced society, brimming with technological achievements that we couldn’t even dream of, would the government still be as superficial and corrupt as it is now? The answer to all of these questions is yes, probably, and certainly, all at once. The hilarity of Hitchhiker’s Guide stems from how completely absurd so many of these situations may seem, despite them making perfect sen
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The Curious AI of "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"

“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” analyzes several popular concepts in science fiction, including the prevalence of hyper-intelligent AI lording over humanity and the apocalypse via our own hands. I think that there are more instances of seemingly malicious AI in science fiction stories than there are purely positive examples. While widely recognized as a logical step forward technology wise for humanity, they are also treated with an enormous amount of skepticism from both storytellers and real-world scientists like Stephen Hawking. AI as a literary tool represents the purest form of humanity’s logical side. AI can only reason, and has no emotion or moral preconceptions that most humans have. So, from HAL in 2001 A Space Odyssey, to the Terminators, to the AI from Wall-E, when given a simple directive such as ‘protect humanity’ will invariably reason itself to the conclusion that the best way to protect humanity is to enslave them, or kill them. Without knowing something as see
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Militarism Ideals in Starship Troopers

Starship troopers borrows many themes from contemporary literature of the time and decontextualizes and emphasizes it in a futuristic version of earth that demonstrates how many core aspects of humanity, positive and negative, will never change. A major theme of the book centers on militarism in the future, specifically against an enemy of unknown origin. The novel sees a global military reverting to capital punishments to maintain order and punish members of the military who step out of line, including flogging and even hanging execution.  The novel, however, does not criticize the military for extreme actions, instead it embraces them and celebrates the place of a strong military organization as a central, if not the central pillar needed for a strong society. These same tenants were often discouraged by contemporary writers who had just survived World War I and II, which serves as an interesting contrast to the violent and pragmatic view of Starship Troopers. Even
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Magical Teenage Drama in The Night Circus

     The primary conflict of The Night Circus lies in the conflict between the two primary antagonists, the magicians Prospero and Mr. A.H, who have conscripted their protégés, our protagonists, into a battle of life or death. The small problem with this is that the two have instead fallen in love. The central conflict of the novel, therefore is a teenage romance story, surrounded by magic, stabbings, murder, and suicide. The main characters are relatable to many youths, being prescribed a destiny they had no say in by opposed authority figures, and not being able to do anything about it.       The use of magic in the story doesn’t take center stage in this, rather, its primary focus seems to be to drive the conflict, thus keeping the novel primarily about the characters’ struggles and maintaining drama. In the end, every character in the novel feels like they’re in the right, even if their justifications seem flimsy from an outside perspective. In some ways, it almos
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