Actually his novel The Genesis Machine dealt with this idea in much more detail. In that story the effect was used to create an artificial black hole through which energy could be poured and focused anywhere within the range of the detector's capability. It was used as an ultimate weapon and the two scientists who were the only ones who really understood it used it to eliminate all offensive weapons on the planet and stop all war.
HP has been running ads for a couple of years now that are the best counter to Apples ads yet. The ads show all the creative ways well known people are using their (HP/Windows) computers. They are eyecatching, inventive, stylish and cool. I've always found the Apple ads to be fairly lame, though I can't deny the fact that they seem to have worked fairly well for Apple. I always thought Apple should have been the one with ads like HP's. I guess this is why I don't work in advertising.
Given the availability of information, they are as informed as they want to be. You can lead a horse...
It starts with basic education, which is generally not good around the country. Kids don't get enough science, math, critical thinking, etc.
Add on top of that the pace of progress in a widely dispersed field ("science" covers a lot of ground.)
I suspect that to a great many people on the average, "science" still means guys in lab coats with beakers of "stuff", telescopes, microscopes, etc.
Sad, but true.
That's silly. Compare the number of fatal accidents/manned launches compared to other professions, and the astronauts still rank pretty high in danger. The whole national (manned) space program is sad. But that's ok. A source of national pride? No. Not for decades. NASA still does some great and important work. But the real pride comes when private enterprise achieves what once only governments could afford. Eventually we'll get there and stay there. But NASA won't be the ones.
Fantasy generally bores me to death, for the precise reason that it isn't/can't be real. Having said that, a number of people have pointed out that a lot of SF tends into the unreal/superfantastic as well. True, though I appreciate some attempt to tie the advanced technologies to what we know or speculate of how the universe actually operates.
But I have a friend who firmly believes that "magic" is real. Spells work in her world. I'm not joking. I've had conversations discussing the fact that the things people attempted to do with spells and potions and whatnot, eventually moving into alchemy and subsequently into a genuine scientific investigation that progressed by finding out what really works, were just early attempts to manipulate the world in the same way we now do with technologies based on science. In other words, magic is just science and technology that never really worked. Science and tech are "magic" that actually works.
So, what? Fantasy games may have "real" "magic" in them, but they need to have some internal consistency, some explanation for how the spells, incantations, potions, etc., all work. What's the difference? It's just another kind of technology.
Look at Harry Potter. There are techniques the little wizards have to learn in order to make a spell work. There are magical technologies with specific applications. Sure, anything can happen in this context because the "rules" can always be violated or expanded by some superior magic. But that's essentially true with advanced scientific technologies in an SF story as well. Dan Simmons' recent pair of books, Ilium and Olympos, described advanced technologies that were essentially magical in use by post-human "Gods" straight out of Kurzweil.
Clarke said it best. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So what's the difference?
Over the long term, don't you suppose there will be some Darwinian effects from this as people who can't/don't learn are simply left behind (the weaker members of the heard) and picked off by predators?
Slashdot Mirror
Actually his novel The Genesis Machine dealt with this idea in much more detail. In that story the effect was used to create an artificial black hole through which energy could be poured and focused anywhere within the range of the detector's capability. It was used as an ultimate weapon and the two scientists who were the only ones who really understood it used it to eliminate all offensive weapons on the planet and stop all war.
Ah. A source perhaps? http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/06/bp-oil-spill-conspir.html
HP has been running ads for a couple of years now that are the best counter to Apples ads yet. The ads show all the creative ways well known people are using their (HP/Windows) computers. They are eyecatching, inventive, stylish and cool. I've always found the Apple ads to be fairly lame, though I can't deny the fact that they seem to have worked fairly well for Apple. I always thought Apple should have been the one with ads like HP's. I guess this is why I don't work in advertising.
Given the availability of information, they are as informed as they want to be. You can lead a horse... It starts with basic education, which is generally not good around the country. Kids don't get enough science, math, critical thinking, etc. Add on top of that the pace of progress in a widely dispersed field ("science" covers a lot of ground.) I suspect that to a great many people on the average, "science" still means guys in lab coats with beakers of "stuff", telescopes, microscopes, etc. Sad, but true.
That's silly. Compare the number of fatal accidents/manned launches compared to other professions, and the astronauts still rank pretty high in danger. The whole national (manned) space program is sad. But that's ok. A source of national pride? No. Not for decades. NASA still does some great and important work. But the real pride comes when private enterprise achieves what once only governments could afford. Eventually we'll get there and stay there. But NASA won't be the ones.
Awesome! Maybe now I can get my Mr. Fusion-powered time-traveling DeLorean!
Fantasy generally bores me to death, for the precise reason that it isn't/can't be real. Having said that, a number of people have pointed out that a lot of SF tends into the unreal/superfantastic as well. True, though I appreciate some attempt to tie the advanced technologies to what we know or speculate of how the universe actually operates. But I have a friend who firmly believes that "magic" is real. Spells work in her world. I'm not joking. I've had conversations discussing the fact that the things people attempted to do with spells and potions and whatnot, eventually moving into alchemy and subsequently into a genuine scientific investigation that progressed by finding out what really works, were just early attempts to manipulate the world in the same way we now do with technologies based on science. In other words, magic is just science and technology that never really worked. Science and tech are "magic" that actually works. So, what? Fantasy games may have "real" "magic" in them, but they need to have some internal consistency, some explanation for how the spells, incantations, potions, etc., all work. What's the difference? It's just another kind of technology. Look at Harry Potter. There are techniques the little wizards have to learn in order to make a spell work. There are magical technologies with specific applications. Sure, anything can happen in this context because the "rules" can always be violated or expanded by some superior magic. But that's essentially true with advanced scientific technologies in an SF story as well. Dan Simmons' recent pair of books, Ilium and Olympos, described advanced technologies that were essentially magical in use by post-human "Gods" straight out of Kurzweil. Clarke said it best. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." So what's the difference?
Over the long term, don't you suppose there will be some Darwinian effects from this as people who can't/don't learn are simply left behind (the weaker members of the heard) and picked off by predators?