Ny Life as a Nerd-Rogue.
A book that I wish I had that was left in Calgary was a book by famed genre author Orson Scott Card about writing. In it he said that the only difference between science fiction and fantasy is that in one you pushed a button to fire a laser, and in the other you waved a magic wand to shoot a lightning bolt. This isn't strictly true, although I see his point. Philip K. Dick felt that science fiction was about the impact of technology on humanity. To him it was less important if the technology he envisioned would exist, rather the effects of some imagined technology on humanity itself. Some science fiction purists also argue that it has to be based on plausible extrapolations of technology based on current scientific understanding.
I believe a lot of us science fiction fans like to imagine that something similar to Star Trek will one day be reality, and we will one day be cruising around the universe making discoveries, with some wondrous new discovery around every corner. Faster than light travel is fundamental to this idea, and based on physics as it is currently understood, it might well be impossible. That makes the exploration of extra-solar space unwieldy in the extreme. Odds are in the favor of that we will be confined within this solar system forever. Some people also apparently think that terraforming a planet, namely Mars, is possible. I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone thinks that we could create an environment similar to Earth on any other planet. We don't even really understand our own environment. Don't get me wrong, I love science with a passion many apply toward their religion. But sometimes even those who love science get caught up in impossibly utopian visions.
Time travel is patently ridiculous too. You would have to imagine that every instant of time is magically saved in order for you to travel back too. Forward time travel is theoritically possible, as that relative time does slow as you approach the speed of light. That is one of the problems with the speed of light, if you could go faster then you could effectively travel backwards in time, if my understanding of the physics is correct. As far as we can tell, time only travels in one direction, even if the speed can be relative in certain circumstances.
Teleportation is another probably impossible technology. You would have to take a snapshot of the position of every molecule in your entire body, and every nerve imulse racing through it, covert that to energy and send it to some mechanism capable of reassembling it the exact way it was when that snapshot was made. The same technology could be used to just make exact copies of yourself. I don't think this is even theoretically possible, however. You would run into the problem of quantum uncertainty, so any reassembled copy would have errors no matter how accurate your measuring mechanism. Fundamental laws of physics are a bitch.
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The trainee I mentioned in the last post reminds me a lot of a character in Norman Mailer's Harlot's Ghost. His name is Dix Butler, and is a total alpha male. When we were in Canada, we went to a cookout up North where Amanda's best friend is living with her aging grandmother to take care of her. The cookout was a reason to get old friends together in one place for a visit. Amanda's friend, Tammy, was grilling some good with a couple of us guys standing around watching. She said flippantly that she couldn't grill with all these "alpha males" standing around. I told her that I was at best a delta, and so she said it was alright that I stayed.
It's alright, though, as I am a Rogue and not a Fighter or something. I think it is how much interest I have in how fiction and reality both parallel and conflict. I also have a high fascination with the conflict between civilization and our own natural desires and instincts. I tried to explain today to my lovely (and again pregnant) wife about why I think the subjects of Law and Science most interest me. Science is about the rules than govern reality, and Law is about the rules that govern the relationships of humanity to itself.
I definitely do not want to sacrifice what I am as a father and a husband to some nuerotic need to compete. I've seen what feelings of inadequacy can do to a man and to a relationship. It's not really just about money, as much as I like to make it out to be sometimes. It is more that I do want a career where I feel I am mentally challenged and rewarded for overcoming those challenges.
I'm just thinking outtext, working through my own internal issues.
Later!
I believe a lot of us science fiction fans like to imagine that something similar to Star Trek will one day be reality, and we will one day be cruising around the universe making discoveries, with some wondrous new discovery around every corner. Faster than light travel is fundamental to this idea, and based on physics as it is currently understood, it might well be impossible. That makes the exploration of extra-solar space unwieldy in the extreme. Odds are in the favor of that we will be confined within this solar system forever. Some people also apparently think that terraforming a planet, namely Mars, is possible. I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone thinks that we could create an environment similar to Earth on any other planet. We don't even really understand our own environment. Don't get me wrong, I love science with a passion many apply toward their religion. But sometimes even those who love science get caught up in impossibly utopian visions.
Time travel is patently ridiculous too. You would have to imagine that every instant of time is magically saved in order for you to travel back too. Forward time travel is theoritically possible, as that relative time does slow as you approach the speed of light. That is one of the problems with the speed of light, if you could go faster then you could effectively travel backwards in time, if my understanding of the physics is correct. As far as we can tell, time only travels in one direction, even if the speed can be relative in certain circumstances.
Teleportation is another probably impossible technology. You would have to take a snapshot of the position of every molecule in your entire body, and every nerve imulse racing through it, covert that to energy and send it to some mechanism capable of reassembling it the exact way it was when that snapshot was made. The same technology could be used to just make exact copies of yourself. I don't think this is even theoretically possible, however. You would run into the problem of quantum uncertainty, so any reassembled copy would have errors no matter how accurate your measuring mechanism. Fundamental laws of physics are a bitch.
--
The trainee I mentioned in the last post reminds me a lot of a character in Norman Mailer's Harlot's Ghost. His name is Dix Butler, and is a total alpha male. When we were in Canada, we went to a cookout up North where Amanda's best friend is living with her aging grandmother to take care of her. The cookout was a reason to get old friends together in one place for a visit. Amanda's friend, Tammy, was grilling some good with a couple of us guys standing around watching. She said flippantly that she couldn't grill with all these "alpha males" standing around. I told her that I was at best a delta, and so she said it was alright that I stayed.
It's alright, though, as I am a Rogue and not a Fighter or something. I think it is how much interest I have in how fiction and reality both parallel and conflict. I also have a high fascination with the conflict between civilization and our own natural desires and instincts. I tried to explain today to my lovely (and again pregnant) wife about why I think the subjects of Law and Science most interest me. Science is about the rules than govern reality, and Law is about the rules that govern the relationships of humanity to itself.
I definitely do not want to sacrifice what I am as a father and a husband to some nuerotic need to compete. I've seen what feelings of inadequacy can do to a man and to a relationship. It's not really just about money, as much as I like to make it out to be sometimes. It is more that I do want a career where I feel I am mentally challenged and rewarded for overcoming those challenges.
I'm just thinking outtext, working through my own internal issues.
Later!