Category Archives: science fiction

SF and AI in MSM

Posted on Sunday 5 March 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Items about Isaac Asimov and AI, Adrian Tchaikovsky and octopuses and AI, SF magazines and AI-generated stories. The Atlantic, Jeremy Dauber, 3 Mar 2023: What Isaac Asimov Can Teach Us About AI, subtitled “The science-fiction writer imagined artificial intelligence—and what … Continue reading →

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Two Philosophical Bits

Posted on Friday 24 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Are you the same person you were last week? How long should you shop?

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Dacher Keltner, AWE: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life

Posted on Tuesday 7 February 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

This is a book about the subjective experience of awe, and how being aware of everyday examples of awe can make your life more meaningful and fulfilling; yet how (in my take) it’s about the emotion, triggered by both the … Continue reading →

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Feelings vs. Data, Political Items, and Awe

Posted on Saturday 28 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Today Paul Krugman counters feelings with facts, this time about the economy; also, items about DeSantis, red state murders, Truth Social ads. And a new book about awe.

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Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress, OBSERVER

Posted on Sunday 22 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

(The Story Plant, January 2023, 380pp) This is a hard science fiction thriller that impressed me in many ways, though I’m not a regular reader of thrillers per se and perhaps am not in a position to judge the book … Continue reading →

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Cosmic Websites; Recent Headlines

Posted on Friday 13 January 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Let’s begin with an item from December, on a website called Topia: A World of Good, promoted on Facebook today by David Brin since it reproduces a list Brin compiled on his own blog some time ago. 21 COSMIC WEBSITES … Continue reading →

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Longtermism (and Science Fiction), part 2

Posted on Wednesday 14 December 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

More about “longermism,” Effective Altruism, how they relate to science fiction, and whether or not books can be reduced to six-paragraph summaries.

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Change and Survival: A Refined Conception of Science Fiction

Posted on Tuesday 29 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

A couple items today have perhaps led me to a new formulation of the idea of “science fiction.”

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Remembering Greg Bear

Posted on Monday 21 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

This isn’t the best photo of Greg Bear, but it’s the one I took, back at the 1984 Worldcon, in LA, the very first Worldcon I attended. I can’t tell what book he was holding, or waving — it’s his … Continue reading →

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Whither Science Fiction 2022?

Posted on Friday 18 November 2022 by Mark R. Kelly

It’s been obvious for a couple decades that fantasy is outselling science fiction, and dominates the books critics speak of when compile lists of the “best science fiction and fantasy” of the year. Today’s post is about how that is … Continue reading →

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