Thread: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why?

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? Psychology without Philosophy would be rather useless, in my opinion. Teach an understanding of the mind and then teach them how to think critically or at the very least give them the basics. At anyrate, the parents groups and religious groups (usually one in the same) here in America, would come out of the woodwork protesting the inclusion of Philosophy into a high school curriculum. They...

Erm, sorry, it took my feeble brain about a day to process a reply, probably because it's turned so cold and wet here in the land of contractor druids. Quote: Originally Posted by j. d. worthington But they aren't guesses; a guess does not depend on evidence (or is made in reaction to very little, often misleading, evidence). They are models of the world and the universe around us based on verifiable, testable, repeatable results of...

On that last point -- not necessarily. Along with the evidences against free wll in the usually accepted sense, are guidelines for making informed choices which offset the more disastrous aspects, such as relieving people of the idea that they aren't morally responsible for their actions. It's a complicated issue in dealing with how the human mind works, but the two really aren't incompatible. As far as teaching philosophy --...

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? Dawkins On Tau Ceti would be an amazing title for a vintage SF novel. A free smilie to anyone who knocks up a cover for it!!!

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? A colonel at the breakfast table deploys the "more things" line when discussing ghosts with Michael Hordern's professor in the 1968 film of "Whistle and I'll Come to You". Hordern's professor returns with "There are more things in philosophy than are dreamt of in Heaven and Earth". Which seems pretty clever, until he goes...

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? I dont really care as long SF is still big enough to have big shelf in the book store. I see my english specialist book store that even if vampire,urban,epic fantasy has made fantasy bigger the SF shelf is as big as before and they keep refiling with new books of the popular sf writers,new other sf. I don't have to order Richard Morgan type authors books,they are always refilled. As long...

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? Quote: Originally Posted by HareBrain ... he goes insane after being molested by a bedsheet . The mind boggles... J PS Does anyone know what blacknorth said? My erse is a little rusty... (any man -- or bear -- who makes any kind of pun out of that will receive formal Judicial Disapproval)

Re: Fantasy is alive and well, SF is dying... why? You know, I've been following this thread in desultory fashion. But I have to say that I haven't been personally affected by this "dying" genre. There are plenty of good authors out there producing plenty of material. I'm certainly not running out of things to read. If there's a bit of a lull, I haven't really noticed it. If there's a burgeoning...

Surely the poll in this thread would be indicative of whether SF is in decline?

One possible explanation for the decline in SF readership might be to do with a shift in the public perception of science and our vision of the future. I believe that people generally had a far more positive view of science from the 40's to the 60's and faith in it's ability to offer hope and a solution to many of mankind's problems. With science there is almost nothing we cannot achieve. Now it is quite different. Science...