Christopher Hellstrom
@hellstrom7 Active 6 years, 10 months ago-
Christopher Hellstrom commented on the post, Interview: Sherryl Vint on Science Fiction and Biopolitics 7 years, 7 months ago
Great interview. I enjoyed “Bodies of Tomorrow” and look forward to reading “Animal Alterity” and Vint’s new work. I like that she takes the interactions between people and machines as something that is […]
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Christopher Hellstrom replied to the topic Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, and the Death of Seriousness. in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 8 months ago
Thank you for your reply Daniel. I did look up the term Cli Fi. I was not aware of it and I am sure like many new genre designations you can retrofit many stories. Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves deals with a situation that “w hen the moon blows up, the earth’s atmosphere is predicted to go through changes that will eventually lead to a Hard Rain, a…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom replied to the topic How hackable is the human brain? in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 8 months ago
I think the old fashioned ways of hacking the brain (changing habits) can be streamlined using tools and technology. I read Neal Stephenson’s “Arsepestos” in his latest non fiction which spoke about the dangers of sitting all day and now I’m writing this on a standing desk (If I sound like “that guy” I’m sorry.) I’ve gotten into the habit and i…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom replied to the topic What will we do all day? in the Conversation Big Ideas 7 years, 8 months ago
Thanks for your reply. I think there is room for all sorts of SF. There was a movement to create Mundane SF (Geoff Ryman) https://sfgenics.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/geoff-ryman-et-al-the-mundane-manifesto/ No interstellar space travel and many of the rules seem Hieroglyph-y.
That is the . Spike Jonze’s “Her” I think is a great SF movie and I t…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom changed their profile picture 7 years, 8 months ago
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Christopher Hellstrom changed their profile picture 7 years, 8 months ago
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Christopher Hellstrom started the topic What will we do all day? in the Conversation Big Ideas 7 years, 8 months ago
There are twin desires at play in Science Fiction, the enlightenment view of scientific progress and the romantic Rousseauean view of nature.
Richard Brautigan’s Poem “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” captures this conflict brilliantly.
This particular poem by Brautigan is very powerful because it fuses both the pastoral visio…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom changed their profile picture 7 years, 8 months ago
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Christopher Hellstrom started the topic Two Cheers for Monoculture in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 8 months ago
Having read just Hieroglyph, it was interesting to re-read Heinlein’s “The Man Who Sold the Moon” short story collection for a comparison. Outsized characters like Billionaire DD Harriman, who dreamed of getting to the moon certainly inspired readers when they came out in the 1940s and 1950s. Harriman strove to reach the moon-by hook or crook…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom replied to the topic Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, and the Death of Seriousness. in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 9 months ago
That is a good point about the tech industry and the sf frame of mind. I really enjoy literary novels like Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom but it has as just about as much cultural impact as niche hard science fiction novel. The idea of having a central Great American Novel that is a summation of a cultural moment has become passé but I feel a bit of…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom's profile was updated 7 years, 9 months ago
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Christopher Hellstrom changed their profile picture 7 years, 9 months ago
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Christopher Hellstrom started the topic Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, and the Death of Seriousness. in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 9 months ago
Science Fiction has always been a literary ghetto that is perceived as childish.
In some ways, the idea of the “Death of adulthood”outlined in A.O. Scott’s piece in the New York Times Magazine benefits SF sales, at least SF movies and videogames. “Kidults” are comfortable watching comic book movies with SF themes in their proverbial t-shirts and…[Read more]
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Christopher Hellstrom replied to the topic How can technology change the way we teach and learn? in the Conversation Questionspace 7 years, 9 months ago
In Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age (Or, The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer) young Nell stumbles upon an interactive primer powered by nanotechnology and weak artificial intelligence that bonds with her. Her particular book also employs an anonymous human teacher, Miranda, who is a “ractor” who acts as a mother figure to Nell. Ractors, in the s…[Read more]
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ChristopherHellstrom replied to the topic 3D printing your diet in the forum
But what will we eat? 9 years, 1 month ago
I agree with Lars. Why waste all that land, time and energy. Or contribute to the suffering of animals if you don’t have to.
Says that famous futurist Winston Churchill “Fifty years hence, we shall escape the […]
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Christopher Hellstrom joined the group
But what will we eat? 9 years, 1 month ago
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Christopher Hellstrom changed their profile picture 9 years, 1 month ago