Sci-fi underestimates reality: The Martian's plot dies with reused Falcons, Ender's Game just needs Claude
akbirthko · x · 2026-10-10
The author jokes that many sci-fi works now seem unambitious: The Martian only works because its America lacked launch vehicles and relied on China and cycler architectures, whereas today you'd just grab a used Falcon—and Starship makes cyclers obsolete entirely. They argue many works likewise underestimate AI progress in the 2020s-30s and are overly dystopian, quipping that Ender's Game's problem could have been solved with Claude.
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