In previous blogs I’ve looked a number of times at our possible future relationships, with robots, androids and other intelligent machines, which brings into question, for me, what it means to be human. Another area that as a science fiction writer I of course speculate on, is how our world and then other worlds might develop. This is an area I want to explore, with your help, in my blogs. OK, I may intersperse it with other blogs for variety, but this I think this could be a rich topic for discussion.
I’ll be honest, for me, this is a great way to try out ideas, to imagine possible worlds, cities and cultures for use in my future books. To see how they might work, or not (conflict always being at the heart of a story). If you write sci-fi I hope you’ll find it useful as well. If you read sci-fi, or simply like to contemplate what the future might hold, I trust you’ll find looking at possible ways our societies might develop to be interesting and thought provoking.
The first area I want to explore is what will happen in the not too distant future, here on Earth. Where can we see things going based on what is happening now?
The nineteenth century, with the Industrial Revolution and increased mechanisation of farming, saw a huge growth in cities with people looking for work in the new factories that were springing up everywhere. I know, this was then particularly a UK/European/US phenomenon. But the same thing has happened/is happening all over the world. What’s more it seems that those cities are still growing and are predicted to continue growing despite modern technology and communications. This is certainly the case for London and I guess it is the same for cities the world over. I heard on the news that London is already considering 250 new high rise building, to cope with the increased numbers of people that will need housing and many are saying that will be nowhere near enough. There still seems to be this idea of ‘making it in the city,’ often then to move out the suburbs, which let’s face it are then swallowed by the grand metropolis. This again echoes the C19, where once leafy villages close to London, became desirable for those who had ‘made it’ and have now been swallowed up by the city sprawl.
I guess I struggle to understand why we persist in this model, especially given the advantages of modern and ever increasingly sophisticated communications. I also wonder (as a science fiction writer) where it is leading us? This is something I really want to cover in those future blogs. I’m certain there are many out there researching this trend, seriously speculating on and planning for this future. So if you know of articles, or blogs, or you have an opinion on the subject let me know.
Between now and the next blog on this topic I’ll do some digging and follow up any leads you might give me Then I’ll return to the subject, again with my ‘science fiction hat’ on and see where it might take us.
Ian Martyn