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The disappearance of sci-fi writing is yet another clear sign of technological decline. It's the final surrender of a society that has lost its collective belief in its power to build a better future. (www.datawrapper.de)
submitted 8 months ago by to c/scifi@lemmy.ml
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[–] 5 points 8 months ago (9 children)

I grew up believing in the power of technological advancement. This is what I was taught. Consequently science fiction made sense to me.

My kids, when young, were not given the same treatment and schooling I was. I did not read stories of moon exploration to them, instead I read about other things.

I noticed after they grew up, that they remained interested in the stuff they were shown to them when small

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 8 months ago (8 children)

    Right, there's a cultural shift at work here, but it is driven by the nature of the material base. The US has become deindustrialized, most jobs are in service industries, entertainment, and software development. And most people aren't seeing any positive progress around them. So, positive sci-fi about apace exploration, or some grand advancement of humanity is simply not relatable in these conditions.

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  • [–] 2 points 8 months ago (7 children)

    I look to the changed practices in child rearing first, and then see how what happens now alters the outlook of what was learned in early years.

    My point is, should there be sudden renewed hope in technology and advancement again, or if there is still hope, or better jobs, there will not be a resurgence of science fiction in the west.

    Instead there will be new literature trends

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  • [–] [S] 4 points 8 months ago (6 children)

    I don't see why there wouldn't be. Sci-fi might have a new flavor, the genre has evolved this whole time after all. However, the basic dynamic of people seeing the progress around them and thinking what it means for the future will be the same.

    That's what spurred the genre into being in the first place. And as I've pointed out, we can see the same dynamic in China right now for the same material reasons.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (5 children)

    What kind of new science fiction do you think would happen should it become popular in the west again?

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 8 months ago (4 children)

    I think it'll depend on the direction technological progress takes. People will extrapolate based on what's being built in the real world.

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  • [–] 0 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    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

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    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.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 months ago (1 child)

    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.

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