alternative perspectives on the future in science fiction the Works of Olaf Stapeldon josh lindenger | 11.29.2012 @jlindenger | [email protected] image: NASA, STS059-29-023
Alternative Perspectives on the Future in Science Fiction: the Works of Olaf Stapeldon
Jul 07, 2015
This presentation was from a seminar on "Alternative Perspectives on the Future" as part of my Futures Studies program at the University of Houston. In it, I talk about some of the cool stuff in Olaf Stapeldon's "Last and First Men" and "Star Maker."
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alternative perspectives on the future in science fiction
the Works of Olaf Stapeldon
josh lindenger | 11.29.2012 @jlindenger | [email protected] image: NASA, STS059-29-023
why look to science fiction?
Image: NASA, GPN-2001-000009
“We of today must conceive our relation to the rest of the universe as best we can; and even if our images must seem fantastic to future men, they may none the less serve their
purpose today.” - olaf stapeldon
who was olaf stapeldon?
“mostly fantastic fiction of a semi-philosophical kind”
1930 1937
themes…
…development of consciousness/perspective …exploring what “humanity” means …the individual and the group, self and whole …fate (at a cosmic level) …importance of spirituality (but maybe not religion) …Hegelian thesis-antithesis-synthesis
crazy cool stuff in the 1930s…
terraforming
emergence
renewable energy
peak coal J
genetic engineering
group minds/swarm intelligence
global climate change agent-based systems
virtual reality
The Prime Directive
“dyson” spheres sickness from “nanoparticles”
relation to other “alternative” perspectives…
Spiral Dynamics
Integral Theory
Other perspectives based on interconnectedness,
systems, etc.
image: solar eclipse on 01 Aug 2008 by elias chasiotis, on flickr
sources…
…Stapledon, Last and First Men …Stapledon, Star Maker …Liptak, “Looking far, far into the future: Olaf Stapledon,” Kirkus Reviews, July 26, 2012. …Wikipedia (totally cited it) …NASA and Elias Chasiotis for the pretties
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