Category Archives: Class Discussion

“Dystopic? Or Myopic?”

In the most recent issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact (November/December 2018), the guest editorial discusses the trend towards dystopian visions in recent science fiction. Edward M. Lerner in “Dystopic? Or Myopic?” perhaps sums up his views in one word: “Ugh” (4). He goes on to assert clearly: “The prevalence of dystopian SF, I firmly believe, is a Bad Thing.” (4)

At least two comments due by W 12/5, though, as always, more are welcome! Engage with his claims in this editorial and with your classmates’ ideas, and provide textual evidence in support of your comments. Feel free to also bring in contemporary life (including movies, video games, etc.) to back up your points.

What does it mean to be “human” in Westworld?

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As part of our reading of Westworld, we are considering how humanity is redefined in the world of this text. We are exploring what it means to be human, in a world where people have their non-biological, “fake,” non-living counterparts (“hosts”).

What does authenticity means in a world where everything, including emotions, memories, reveries, beings, etc. can be simulated, created by people? What defines a “human” or “humanity” in the world of Westworld? What distinguishes the real/genuine/authentic from the fake/simulated/ersatz? What is missing/lost/sacrificed (if anything) in these replicas? Is anything gained?

Who/what serves who/what? Who are the masters and who are the slave? Who are the superiors and the inferiors?
What are the relationships (colleagues, friendship, sexual, love, etc.) between different types of beings?
What is a real “emotion” if it can be simulated or real memories if they can be implanted?
What about the setting, the utopian park of the old Wild West, where the rich come to live out their fantasies at the expense of others?
What kinds of competing sets of values are at play?
What are central conflicts of the first episode?

I am also particularly interested in us tracing how, through their interaction with the “hosts,” people (the “newcomers” or the people who work on creating the hosts or Westworld itself) move from merely embodying values/norms of their society that they have have already internalized, to developing individual, (perhaps rebellious?), free-thinking understanding about the world and their places in it, and the hierarchy of beings (living and otherwise).

Think about these questions in relation to other texts we are read or ideas discussed this semester, as well as real-life advances in technology (such as those presented in this article, “Japanese professor creates uncanny, human-like robots and the exhibit website, Android: What is Human?).

[Logistics]

Make at least two comments (just hit “reply,” either to my original post or to another comment on it) by the end of class today (Tuesday, 11/20, by 3:45pm). Then go back/read through all comments and extend the conversation by making at least two more comments (of course, more are always welcome!) in response by M 11/26.

Your comment (reply) can be just a few sentences: provide the quote/citation and a quick explanation of how/why it functions in the context of some larger issue/question (or you can raise questions, complicate issues, extend discussions, analyze a character, or setting, etc. &/or discuss central conflicts/values/themes through the use of your evidence/analysis). Feel free to post multiple comments, and also to respond to others. If you’ve already discussed some of these instances in your previous blogs or in class, you should feel free to draw on that material.The goal is to have some good virtual discussions here to help you think critically about important themes/questions raised by this complex novel, and to find/analyze/synthesize various pieces of evidence in support of claim.

The goal in all cases is to provide specific examples from the text (scenes/quotes/citation from the episode) with discussion/analysis and some connection to a larger claim/argument. You must cite currently in MLA format (in-text citation).

World-Building in Political Elections

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“Perhaps the crispest definition is that science fiction is a literature of ‘what if?'”
(Evans, Christopher. Writing Science Fiction. London, A & C Black, 1988.)

I know many of you are anxiously watching the midterm elections unfold today (and that many of you are voting in them as well!). Elections for public office are steeped in both utopian and dystopian rhetoric, about the state of our communities and our country, about how our lives and world are, how they should be, how they could be. In short, these debates and these elections traffic heavily in what if? These elections and the candidates’ words and policies are, in a very real way, about world-building: they are about reality but also about imagination grounded in possibility. What will our communities, our country, and the world (not to mention our individual lives) look like if certain people are elected to serve us? What kinds of worlds do these candidates think is possible and desirable? How will they enact these visions? In whose interests?

“I define science fiction as the art of the possible. [. . .]. Science fiction, again, is the history of ideas, and they’re always ideas that work themselves out and become real and happen in the world” (Bradbury, Ray. “Ray Bradbury: The Science of Science Fiction.” By Arthur Unger. The Christian Science Monitor 13 Nov. 1980).

This is an open forum for class discussion, today on Election day, and beyond, to share your thoughts on how political rhetoric and platforms shape what is possible in our world. This is a space to consider what candidates’ visions of well-being for our communities and our country mean, what they do. Today’s elections (and the campaigning and political battles that have been accompanying them, for months now) is about “extrapolation,” a tool central to the genre of science fiction. The candidates are starting from our present circumstances and extrapolating to what might happen if we continue down our current path undeterred, or what alternatives exist, and how things might be different if we change our course. Though there is much obsession with facts, this extrapolation depends on assumptions, perspectives, and values. This extrapolation is grounded in competing needs and desires about how people should live and how societies should structure themselves (think of hierarchies, treatment of the “other,” about all the questions on the Science Fiction Framework).

Together, let’s close (and actively) read these texts of the Election (the candidates’ words, their policies, media coverage surrounding them, etc.) and critically examine what is being explicitly or implicitly stated in these visions. As always, textual evidence (with citations/links) will help to support your claims about what the candidates’ believe America does, could, and should look like one possible future; the future in which they are elected public servants of our communities and of the country where we live and work and dream, the United States of America.

Class Discussion #5: AI (Artificial Intelligence)

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This coming Tuesday’s reading, “The Last Question” (Isaac Asimov, 1956), considers the relationship between humans and technology, and notions of artificial intelligence. The notion of intelligent, free-thinking machines takes the “man vs. machine” conflict to a whole new level, considering the consequences of our creations in new and frightening ways. AI permeates the science fiction genre, and is a common theme of contemporary films and TV shows. We’ll be exploring AI throughout the semester, considering the ways in which advances in science and technology and prompted even more complex visions of AI in science fiction. For now, let’s start to crowdsource this theme, in this class discussion.

Just as with our apocalypse class discussion, two comments are due by Monday, 10/15 (though as always, feel free to contribute more!). You should post at least one example to start off. Examples can be real or fictional (movies, TV shows, video games). Share your example (with citation) and explain why/how it can be consider apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic, and what questions it raises. It would be helpful to share concrete discussion in your comments (referencing particular passages, scenes, etc.).

As always, in addition to posting your own comment(s), you are responsible for checking back in and reading through the whole discussion, prior to each class. This “discussion” is part of the required reading for the course. You are responsible for responding to at least one classmate’s example by Monday as well.

Class Discussion #4: Apocalypse

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“It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”

The above quote, which has been attributed to a number of folks at various times, speaks to both the proliferation of apocalyptic visions and the difficulty of imagining a substantively different world order or way of living.

The short story we just read, Ray Bradbury’s “There Will Come Soft Rains” is a post-apocalyptic vision. It is a frightening tale and a compelling warning about the dangers of technological progress. It’s also enduring: check out this animated adaption of the story almost four decades later: There will Come Rains,” (Nazim Tulyakhodzayev, 1987).

It’s not just this one short story though. Science fiction has long been obsessed with the end of the world, of a massive destruction, but also of what life is like in the aftermath of such destruction. In short, science fiction often deals with the apocalypse and the post-apocalypse.

This class discussion is a place to crowdsource contemporary or historical examples of apocalyptic visions and analyze them, thinking critically about imaginings of “the end” (and then, of what follows … new beginnings).

Two comments are due by Monday, 10/15 (though as always, feel free to contribute more!). You should post at least one example to start off. Examples can be real or fictional (movies, TV shows, video games). Share your example (with citation) and explain why/how it can be consider apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic, and what questions it raises. It would be helpful to share concrete discussion in your comments (referencing particular passages, scenes, etc.).

Science Fiction Class Notes 10/4/18

Class Discussion #3: The Star

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We are continuing our class discussion of “The Star” online over the coming week.The goal is to have good virtual discussion here to help us all think critically about this short story. Therefore, your comments need not be very long, and there are a number of ways to approach/contribute to this discussion. As with the Class Discussion of the previous short story, you can:

provide a quote/citation and a few sentences of explanation of how/why it functions in the context of some larger issue/question
raise questions
complicate issues
extend discussions
analyze a character, or setting, etc.
discuss central conflicts/values/themes (especially in relation to the Science Fiction Framework)
make connections to contemporary society (a lot of you mentioned parallels to our own society/lives in your blogs)
anything else you believe would add value to the discussion of this text

The goal in all cases is to provide specific examples from the text (quotes/citations) with discussion/analysis and some connection to a larger point. In you are discussing outside sources (e.g., contemporary/personal examples), though, make sure to discuss them in relation to the original source text (the Forster short story), and how that particular adaptation or contemporary parallel helps us to understand (or complicate) certain aspects of the story.

You should make your at least one comment (just hit “reply,” either to my original post or to another comment on it) by Saturday, 9/22. Then go back/read through all comments and extend the conversation by making at least one more comment in response by Monday, 9/24. Of course, more comments (and extending the conversation beyond the 24th) is always welcome, and you should make sure to return to the Class Discussion even after you made your required comments to check in, see what has been added since you posted, and continue being engaged with what’s happening.

A mimicking mind

Class Discussion #2: The Machine Stops

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We are continuing our class discussion of “The Machine Stops” online over the coming week. The goal is to have good virtual discussion here to help us all think critically about this short story. Therefore, your comments need not be very long, and there are a number of ways to approach/contribute to this discussion. For example, you can:

provide a quote/citation and a few sentences of explanation of how/why it functions in the context of some larger issue/question
raise questions
complicate issues
extend discussions
analyze a character, or setting, etc.
discuss central conflicts/values/themes (especially in relation to the Science Fiction Framework)
make connections to contemporary society (a lot of you mentioned parallels to our own society/lives in your blogs)
anything else you believe would add value to the discussion of this text

You should make your at least one comment (just hit “reply,” either to my original post or to another comment on it) by Monday, 9/10. Then go back/read through all comments and extend the conversation by making at least one more comments in response by Wednesday 9/12. Of course, more comments (and extending the conversation beyond the 12th) is always welcome, and you should make sure to return to the Class Discussion even after you made your required comments to check in, see what has been added since you posted, and continue being engaged with what’s happening.

Class Discussion #1: Moon Tourism

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Take a look at this recent article, “SpaceX Plans to Send 2 Tourists Around Moon in 2018,” from The New York Times, as well as Samsung’s current “A Moon for all Mankind” VR experience.

It’s interesting to consider these developments, sending tourists to the moon (in real life, or virtually) and space exploration more broadly, in relation to science fiction texts that imagine moon voyages (such as Le Voyage dans la Lune, from over 100 years ago!). This builds on the short article that you read for today’s class, on about the “Moon Express.”

Drop a quick comment to share your thoughts about these developments (or how space / alient/ other worlds have imagined historically, in science or popular culture … or even how you imagine these things), reply to a classmates’ comment, or share your own resources/texts about space exploration. Everyone should make at least one comment before Thursday’s class (9/6), though of course, the more the merrier 🙂

(Helpful hint: you can use this category, “In the News,” at any point throughout the semester to share relevant material with the class.)

*Did you know that as City Tech students, you have free digital access to The New York Times? Check out these instructions for how to get started.

ENG 2420: Science Fiction

Professor Belli — Fall 2018 — City Tech