What happened to science fiction? It tracks the speed of technological change
NerdyWeightLifter · reddit · 2026-11-04
A long-time sci-fi fan argues the genre's tone is a function of technological progress relative to human lifespans: centuries of slow change inspired social fiction; mid-20th-century breakthroughs made sci-fi intensely optimistic; today's exponential curve — AI roughly doubling in capability each quarter — makes even ten years ahead unpredictable, so dystopias dominate and the genre blurs into fantasy as readers seek escape. Slow: ignore it. Moderate: be inspired. Fast: be scared. Crazy fast: run and hide.
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