Thursday, January 19, 2006

Alternate Histories and Projected Futures





Both Arthur C. Clarke's (ACC) and Philip K. Dick's (PKD) projected futures were stunningly accurate at times, but a great deal more of their futures came to pass without any relevance to their fiction. Here is an alternate history and projected future compiled from both of their creative musings.


I'm fascinated by futures that never were. Not even 80s cyberpunk, prescient in so many crucial regards, is exempt from the onrush of events that become our history. In the foreword to the 20th anniversary edition of "Neuromancer," William Gibson apologizes for not foreseeing the ubiquity of cell-phones; in his novel, characters rely on the very pay-phones stores are presently removing from their premises because of their virtual obsolescence.

I'm beginning work on a novel that attempts to envision the next 100 years or so of human history (soon after, alien contact occurs, so all sagely bets are off). My pre-ET future history feels right, but then again Isaac Asimov's robot stories must have seemed at least somewhat inevitable when he wrote them.


3 comments:

razorsmile said...

What every scifi writer since ... everyone period has missed is this:

The most consistently improved technology in the human ambit is communications.

Humanity tends towards a hivemind.

Danieru said...

"The labours of men of genius, however erroneously directed, scarcely ever fail in ultimately turning to the solid advantage of mankind." - Mary Shelley

Unknown said...

seems like its been ages since I've visited here