Does SF Predict or Inspire the Future?

Culture - General

Does SF Predict or Inspire the Future?

http://www.aleph.se/andart/archives/2008/10/does_sf_predict_or_inspire_t...
Scanned by: AJ0111 over 3 years ago

The strongest claim is that sf predicts the future. There are plenty of things mentioned in sf that have come true, even when the predictions were at the time amazing: space travel, computers behaving in semi-intelligent ways, biotechnology. But this could be a selection effect where we remember the successes and forget all the rayguns, flying cars, moving sidewalks and other failed predictions. As an exercise I checked the latest CNN and BBC technology headlines to see whether they had been foreshadowed in science fiction. Overall the performance was not that good; beside some areas where sf has been around (like space and biotech) it had completely missed the social/economical internet that plays such a key part of current events.

Type: Future Fiction |

Comment Thread (0 Responses)

New Comment


Related RSS Feeds
http://www.aleph.se/andart/index.rdf
Link Buttons
Save To Del.icio.us

Higher Education Reimagined With Online Courseware

What will bathrooms look like in the future? - Holy Kaw!

Prosthetic Fingers That Grab Gracefully

Robot-Human Marriages Inevitable by 2050 says Levy

Future Human Evolution Art Gallery

Twitter Predicts Box-Office Sales Better Than HSX

Undersea volcano may collapse, cause devastating Italian tsunami

Does the Splinternet Signify End of Web Golden Age?

Replacement Bones, Grown to Order in the Lab

US Army meets with Apple, discusses tech for soldiers

Semantic Future

The world's only immortal animal

The Future of Collaboration Begins with Visualizing Human Capital

Your Time and Mine

Web-Mediated Learning Found More Effective Than the Traditional Cla...

Researchers Design Nanoscale Fuel Cell Catalyst Using Less Platinum

[Video] NY Times Features Electric Car Startups Fisker Karma and A...

NPR's Interactive Map of US Electricity Grid and Solar-Wind Potential

[Video] 60 Minutes Clean Coal Program Misses Chance to Introduce Bi...

Obama Administration announces $777 million for Energy Frontier Res...

Northeastern Researchers Use Coated Nanotubes to Improve Splitting ...

Asimo Controlled By Human Thought (Video)

America's New Face to the World

World Population Devastated if Predicted 9 Degrees F Temp Increase ...

EPIC 2014

GPS-equipped turtle runs into reefer farm

Is Tendril a Step Towards Smart Homes?

Nanotechnology tunes – listening to the music of molecules

Does SF Predict or Inspire the Future?

Related Links and Resources

Comment Thread (0 Responses)

Related RSS Feeds

Link Buttons