Another voice of concern that we are not at the point where we can see into the future

At WorldChanging, Alex Steffen writes about the lack of vision seen in Science Fiction, at least regarding the near future. His Article Science Fiction, Futurism and the Failure of the Will to Imagine,
notes what I have already noted previously. He sees the issue as too many older Science Fiction writers, and not enough from the younger generations.

William Gibson on the future

I found it interesting that William Gibson, who wrote Neuromancer and a number of other cool books is having the same problems I am with writing. He describes not being able to get a feel for the future.

Take a look at his interview and let me know what you think.

A Short Update

Well, it has been a busy month for me, and I have not kept up with the Blog. I have been looking at a few others though, including Larry Lessing, Althouse, Dana Boyd, and Dr Helen.

I have not seen much in the news that has drastically changed in any way, but there have been incremental advances in Bio-fuels and green technologies that seem to hold some promise. The simplest of these is an idea I found at matteran energy, where they are creating a simple system to use the energy around us. There are supposedly greater things afoot, but details are sadly lacking.

I continue looking for the ideas that might be great enough to change the future, but from my present perspective, I do not see any one thing that will be the 'magic bullet' that will turn around the present state of the planet.

Imagining the changes in the near future

I sometimes get discouraged, that the world is going into the sink. Then i find a site like WorldChanging, where it seems that some people actually are working together to make the world a better place for the future. While they do not show any technology that is 'outside the box', making the box work for those outside the U.S. and EU is an accomplishment as well.

the near future and data retention

Just saw a lecture about the near future, that is what we might be able to expect in the next twenty years or so. the main point was that data storage and retention will change how we view ourselves and the world. Please go and read, as it is very insightful.

Will the past continued to be ignored in the future?

I just read a convincing article where the author noted that Mohammad may never have been to Jerusalem, and the pretensions that Islam may have about the past.

Is it Just Islam, or are other faiths and/or governments also guilty?

the power of green

I was just reading "The power of green" at the New York Times. I was very impressed by the logic presented by Thomas Friedman in that article, and the concept that we need a new "New Deal" to change our economic dependence on oil and petrochemicals.

Disruption is the future

I was looking at the new Volt concept car from GM, and recognized that the car would never get to the market, as GM really did not want to be in the hybrid/electric car business whatever they said publicly. Their current excuse is that the battery needs to last ten years, which is beyond the current technology, and probably will remain that way for a long time. Interestingly there is a Brazilian car company that is promising a plug in hybrid and electric car next year. the Obvio! looks like it might be another disruption for the American car companies that still have not figured out that the future will not look so much like the past.

NASA and ESA have a similar problem, and the future of spaceflight is not going to be something that comes out of those structured work shops.

What do you think?

New item: NASA is going to shut down their future tech think tank. link

The Rate of Change

It seems that I am getting further and further behind as I get older. Some people say that the rate of change we are seeing will increase or even increase to a singularity. Perhaps I just need a better interface.

Science fiction again finds its way into science fact

The physics of launching a spacecraft using maglev has gotten another boost. how much longer will it be before the cannon that launches a spacecraft to the moon that Jules Vern described is accepted?

Maglev launch assist technology may enable commercial space travel from PhysOrg.com

The same technology used in magnetically levitated ("maglev") trains may give spaceships a low-cost, stable boost for the future of space travel—possibly even for joy rides. A research group from two universities in Beijing, China has constructed a maglev test vehicle that works on a model track made of a permanent magnet-high temperature superconductor (PM-HTS).

[...]

Things to read

I was looking around for something new to read and found the free books at http://www.webscription.net/ which has the Baen books free library. The free books are not the most current, but are all in electronic format and freely readable.

Future Science

I am creating a Wiki space at http://sififutures.wikispaces.com/ that is primarily about the technologies of the future, and how those technologies work.

I will be updating this blog as I get that wiki started and hopefully explain some of those technologies.