Science Fiction, Technology, and Our Modern World - Essay Example

Science Fiction, Technology, and Our Modern World Science Fiction, Technology, and Our Modern World Essay 3 Q1. Edward James definesutopia as a community or society that possesses a highly desirable or almost perfect qualities (James, 2004). The term is used to describe an attempt to create an ideal society that is imagined and only portrayed in science fiction. Utopia is a perfect society undergoing continuous improvement to achieve the highest aggregate satisfaction level for its people while providing freedom for all. A utopian society would permit a man to move from a society deemed to be hell to that considered heaven. Many close evident connections exist between science fiction and utopian literature with an exceptionally complex relationship. These include the paradise that describes a happier life existing elsewhere, the externally altered world in which there is a kind of life made possible by an unlooked-for natural event. There is also the willed transformation in which the kind of life is achieved by human effort and the technological transformation where the new kind of life is made possible by the technical discovery. Currently, these types overlap giving rise to the dystopia that include hell with more wretched kind of life existing everywhere (Liptak, 2015). It also has the extremely altered world that is a new and less happy kind of life brought about by unpredicted natural events. The willed transformation is characterized by less happy life resulting from societal degeneration and technological transformation in which technology has worsened living conditions. Q2. Politics occupies two major areas as far as science fiction is concerned. Under the theme of the political process and its stories, the plot consequences of political philosophies are examined. Politics is one of the practical art coalitions that comprise of coercion and conflicts that require different frames of mind and priorities to most readers who are pro economic, technical and scientific thinking. The political philosophy of sci-fi is liberal while science fiction is essentially the literature of progress. The recent increase in human power of the rest of creatures via the growth of knowledge and industry is a possible and appropriate step to freedom, political liberty, freedom of thought and trade, and personal autonomy. The link between political freedom and scientific progress is empirically and conceptually close. The central political voice heard in science fiction genre is a dialog with Heinlein as described by sociology. Heinlein’s liberalism, as enshrined in the above sense, is consistent fairly as his movement from democratic to formulations of the same. Heinlein’s “If This Goes On” talks about a revolt against American theocracy. John Lyle, the hero, joins the underground revolutionary movement called Cabal and gets a chance to read uncensored history. Revolutionary politics is Heinleinian’s typical top-down conspiracy with the validity of affirmed democratic politics. Q3. Macleod is a complicated political thinker whose multiple viewpoints, complex structure that juxtaposes the near-modern day and far future (James, 2004). His work in the field of speculative political fiction has become apparent as he has established a long-running preoccupation with most of the established themes such as socialist utopia and the post-human. In science fiction, the future of political themes is dependent on the current political developments, which at the time of writing are considerable flux. The post-political future adumbrated cyberpunks of the 1980s that depicted governments as irrelevant in the face of the corporate power wielded by Zaibatsus and supervised by their hit men seemed like a vision tuned to a dead end. The new political realignments are emerging from the new technological possibilities in fields such as life extension and other forms of human self-modification. Their Shapers and Mechanists, Demarchists, and Radical Primitives focus on postmodern and post-human political field unpolarized by liberty and authority issues that have preoccupied the Western traditions since time immemorial. The collective disagreements are debated upon and that political engagements can exist with neither public nor private coercion. By doing so, they were able to carry on the most subversive message in science fiction, that humanity and its successors may outlive the state. The meaning of this is that human will be more complicated with superior capabilities to do things that may only seem like dreams to us. These will be possible with increased inventions in science and robots. Essay 4 Q1. Criminals have always used technology and are currently building their mobile networks. In Mexico, for example, drug cartels have made a cellphone network that covers all the 31 states. Goodman says that this incredible structure makes it easy to get cell signals even in San Francisco. He also cited 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai where terrorists used AK47 guns as well as other sophisticated technologies such as infrared goggles, phones, and satellite imagery. The scary part of this saga was that they had a fully equipped war room across the Pakistan border from where they monitored the social networks, BBC, and many others. The technology could bring about dystopia as Goodman shows in a Vijay Kumar’s video of quadcopters world premiere in his TED-Talk (Goodman, 2015). The scene of autonomous flying robots playing James Bond shifts when the same robots loaded with firearms started destroying targets causing hell. With the internet connection on the increase today, this is directly proportionate to the increase in vulnerabilities because there has not been even a single operating system that has never been hacked. Q2. Importance of robots used in war is that they are capable of performing the same tasks as human beings without the danger posed by human life. Their parts are easily replaceable at a cost unlike human life, and they can also withstand damages inflicted by bombs and other weaponry that could otherwise destroy human life. Robots also make it possible to denote bombs and governments use them to spy on other nations incognito. Some robots are small in size that makes it easy for them to fit in spaces that cannot be accessed by human beings. Tight, dark and extremely dangerous places can be accessed by robots. They can not only disarm bombs and weapons but also hold and fire. Some robots have machine gun like features that make them appear like small armies. Robots also act as a force multiplier in that a single human fighter can command a squad of robots working simultaneously. They can make faster decisions than humans in the battlefield and are also unaffected by emotions such as anger, revenge, fear, fatigue or stress. Armies should increase the use of robots in wars owing to the above advantages. Q3. Political philosophy refers to the general view, or a specific ethic, attitude, political belief or attitude about politics and political ideologies. Political philosophy encompasses the study of topics such as politics, justice, liberty, property, rights and laws as well as the enforcement of the legal code by an authority. It also includes the required ingredients that make or overthrow a government legitimately. Political philosophy is a subset of political science with a general attribute to form a political inquiry. The rise of science fiction was the idea that the world would change, that a material evidence made to one’s circumstances here now, not after death. Such notions developed during the era of Renaissance, with the influx of new learning in the Europe after the fall of Constantinople. Social fluidity and discovery of America found expression in the new science of Copernicus and Kepler in the new religion and some philosophical works such as Utopia. These utopian notions became part of literature and practical politics that would finally form the basis of various political philosophy particularly those of Karl Max. Marxist thoughts prompted much of the written science fiction and became the most default academic approach of study in science fiction in the 1970s. References Arthur, E. (2010). The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. Middleton: Wesleyan University Press. Goodman, M. (2015). A vision of crimes in the future: Ted.com. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/marc_goodman_a_vision_of_crimes_in_the_future Harlan Ellisons “Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktock Man” in the Wesleyan Anthology (pg. 367-378) James, E. (2004). The Cambridge companion to science fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Ken Macleods “Politics and Science Fiction,” Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (pg. 230-241) Liptak, A. (2015). A Brief History of the Dystopian Novel | Kirkus: Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/brief-history-dystopian-novel/#continue_reading_post Morozov, E. (2015). How the Net aids dictatorships: Ted.com. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/evgeny_morozov_is_the_internet_what_orwell_feared Octavia Butlers “Speech Sounds” in the Wesleyan Anthology (pg. 566-579) Singer, P. (2015). Military robots and the future of war. Ted.com. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/pw_singer_on_robots_of_war Walter, D. (2014). Science fictions utopias are built out of wilful ignorance: the Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/oct/10/science-fiction-utopia-wilful-ignorance Read More