The year is pretty much arbitrary. It’s a simple calculation: date(published) + 50 or so.
This is why I often prefer SciFi that distances itself from any idea of “our near future” - by using a completely different dating system for example.
The thing that actually gave SciFi its name - fantasizing about where science and technology might go from here - is not my favorite, esp. if there’s no consideration for societal development. Like misogynistic cowboys with laser guns.
I read first few stories from Asimov’s I, Robot, and, holy shit, his robots are pretty much stand-ins for slaves. They are property, get threatened with violence, are forbidden to be in the streets at night, and some models even address their owners as “master”. But none of that is addressed anywhere, it’s some convoluted logic puzzles instead. So I don’t know if author was oblivious or thought such things are OK because they are not humans (terrible slippery slope to go on).
Pretty sure Asimov dealt with the human/robot division in at least some of his books. But also, ‘I, Robot’ is probably the worst collection to look for that. You’d do better with ‘The Caves of Steel’, and probably the rest of the novels centered around R. Daneel Olivaw.
Kinda. Robota means hard work, often with a feudal undertone. Which probably sometimes isn’t too far from slavery, but Czech has a separate word for that.
Except we’ll get well into 2552 and people will still be struggling to survive paycheque to paycheque while reading the Halo series wishing John Halo would save them.
The year is pretty much arbitrary. It’s a simple calculation:
date(published) + 50or so.This is why I often prefer SciFi that distances itself from any idea of “our near future” - by using a completely different dating system for example.
The thing that actually gave SciFi its name - fantasizing about where science and technology might go from here - is not my favorite, esp. if there’s no consideration for societal development. Like misogynistic cowboys with laser guns.
Stanisław Lem famously disliked contemporary sci-fi precisely for the reason of it being “cowboys in space”.
And I love Lem’s work! Esp. Eden.
I read first few stories from Asimov’s I, Robot, and, holy shit, his robots are pretty much stand-ins for slaves. They are property, get threatened with violence, are forbidden to be in the streets at night, and some models even address their owners as “master”. But none of that is addressed anywhere, it’s some convoluted logic puzzles instead. So I don’t know if author was oblivious or thought such things are OK because they are not humans (terrible slippery slope to go on).
Pretty sure Asimov dealt with the human/robot division in at least some of his books. But also, ‘I, Robot’ is probably the worst collection to look for that. You’d do better with ‘The Caves of Steel’, and probably the rest of the novels centered around R. Daneel Olivaw.
Robot literally came from the Czech word “robota”, meaning slave.
This is a commonly repeated falsehood. “Robota” in Czech (and many slavic languages) means work. So it’s a worker at that.
Kinda. Robota means hard work, often with a feudal undertone. Which probably sometimes isn’t too far from slavery, but Czech has a separate word for that.
Social values go up and down. It’s not linear.
Look at how right Gen Z is or gay acceptance/persecution every few centuries.
Except we’ll get well into 2552 and people will still be struggling to survive paycheque to paycheque while reading the Halo series wishing John Halo would save them.