this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2023
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Futurology
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This may be true for Mr. Stross. I don't believe Farenheit 451 or Nineteen Eighty-Four were written just because the authors needed a pay day.
Well, I don't know about Ray Bradbury, but Orwell wasn't trying to predict the future either. More just explore the madness of totalitarianism in a setting his fellow Englishmen could relate to. His other most famous book was about talking farm animals.
Maybe a better general rule is that authors aren't futurologists, but artists, who may intend to either illuminate or entertain. A possible future is simply a choice of setting.
I don't think I disagree with you about any point in particular.
The author of the article tries to make a case that these billionaires are stupid (and likely fascists) for chasing ideas from science fiction. For the finishing touch, he torpedoes his own credibility by saying science fiction writers like him are untalented pandering hacks who just recycle ideas and material. They don't know anything about science or bring new ideas to the table.
I don't know Mr. Stross beyond this article. However, this strikes me very much like what Paul Krugman said about the internet. I think this sort of stuff comes from people who lack vision and can't imagine the potential of ideas.