this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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Science Fiction

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"A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam." - which books do you think best manage to do this? (self.sciencefiction)
submitted 1 year ago by FantasticFox to c/sciencefiction
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I posted this on Reddit a while ago and it sparked some really good discussion and recommendations.

I really like The Expanse - as it doesn't just discuss the attempted terraforming of Mars and the colonisation of the Main Asteroid Belt but also

spoilerthe way that these communities decline when abundant habitable planets are discovered, where life is much easier.

So yeah, what are your best examples?

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[–] stanleytweedle 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a pretty good description of good sci-fi, predicting the unintended consequences or technology, not the developments themselves. Predicting the developments themselves is a bit like any prophesy- if enough people do it eventually one other them turns out to be right. Predicting the consequences is a little more constrained and requires understanding both the technology and human nature.

[–] FantasticFox 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, it's quite easy to predict things that may happen in the future. After all, people are reading your story in the present so they can't call you out should your prediction be wrong.

But it takes a greater mind to be able to consider the second order effects that it will have.