tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post8589847445425384736..comments2024-03-17T03:17:43.229-04:00Comments on David Anthony Durham: Why I May Never Be Able to Write Hard Sci/FiDavid Anthony Durhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-15480942438652438652009-01-18T05:31:00.000-05:002009-01-18T05:31:00.000-05:00*begins weeping half-way through first paragraph*M...*begins weeping half-way through first paragraph*<BR/><BR/>My goodness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-44242211084753248352009-01-17T16:52:00.000-05:002009-01-17T16:52:00.000-05:00In reality we are all just software routines runni...In reality we are all just software routines running in a giant adventure game on Charlie Stross's laptop.<BR/><BR/>Or at least we might be. How could we tell?<BR/><BR/>(And if you have an answer to that, you are well on your way to writing SF.)Cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328347167113836522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-22005303495824515362009-01-17T16:36:00.000-05:002009-01-17T16:36:00.000-05:00Well, yeah... I follow that. Clarity, sure... Thin...Well, yeah... I follow that. Clarity, sure... Thing is I can't particularly relate that notion to anything real. It's just... an... idea.<BR/><BR/>Or is it more than that?<BR/><BR/>Or is that enough?David Anthony Durhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-90509090098805549522009-01-17T14:55:00.000-05:002009-01-17T14:55:00.000-05:00Right...So, Plato's cave. Remember Plato's cave?So...Right...<BR/><BR/>So, Plato's cave. Remember Plato's cave?<BR/><BR/>So, imagine that the flat, 2d projection is actually the part that's "real", and the part that reflects it is us.<BR/><BR/>Better?J m mcdermotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16433637277106963701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-20219932211826169962009-01-17T10:41:00.000-05:002009-01-17T10:41:00.000-05:00JM,No. Not really. Did your roommates ever have an...JM,<BR/><BR/>No. Not really. Did your roommates ever have any luck with those prospective girlfriends? I'm not at all sure that description would help... ;)<BR/><BR/>Arachne,<BR/><BR/>I like magic vats. That I can work with. Filled with glowing green stuff that pulses with light and lets of a "strange" odor. That's the stuff for me...<BR/><BR/>-DDavid Anthony Durhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-33488661616866013832009-01-17T02:22:00.000-05:002009-01-17T02:22:00.000-05:00Deeper layers of math and physics need comics to u...Deeper layers of math and physics need comics to understand. <BR/><BR/>Really. <BR/><BR/>I tend to like the approach taken by George R.R. Martin's <I>Tuf Voyaging</I>, because ecology tends to be more understandable, and animals are fun to write about (and read about; good olde "animal interest stories" in the news/blog media). And yes, there are vats that clone animals, but they're essentially magic vats run by science. <BR/><BR/>The real fun is the interaction. <BR/><BR/>Which is a very non-hard SF way of looking at things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-18777916023847646222009-01-16T15:51:00.000-05:002009-01-16T15:51:00.000-05:00It's much easier to read than Jung or Zizek.I thin...It's much easier to read than Jung or Zizek.<BR/><BR/>I think I understood it, fine.<BR/><BR/>We're living as a 3dimensional projection of a 2 dimensional reality. It's like adding another layer into the real/hyperreal equation, because even the "real" is actually a 2d sub-layer. Proven by studying the radiation of black holes, and studying the edges of our measurable world, where the one bajillion pixels tremble like sitting directly in front of the Jumbotron and being unable to make out the pictures, or standing too close to an Impressionist painting to see anything but visual "noise" of swirling colors and shapes that seem to have no meaning.<BR/><BR/>Did that make more sense?<BR/><BR/>Admittedly, I lived with a Physicist and two Engineers for four years in college. I was exposed to this stuff. I am not intimidated by it. They often needed me around to practice explaining things in layman's terms so they could talk to their girlfriends about it later.J m mcdermotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16433637277106963701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-39756341635866775552009-01-16T14:13:00.000-05:002009-01-16T14:13:00.000-05:00I think I speak for all of us when I say...buh?I think I speak for all of us when I say...buh?Meghanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03375626649089998707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-19029346952172001942009-01-16T12:54:00.000-05:002009-01-16T12:54:00.000-05:00Thanks. That story sold, and at pro rates. It came...Thanks. That story sold, and at pro rates. It came out just before Christmas in Futures, complete with two illustrations. It's also been chosen for a "Best of" online anthology.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-9268309698543697242009-01-16T11:35:00.000-05:002009-01-16T11:35:00.000-05:00Dave,Good luck. If you figure it out please come b...Dave,<BR/><BR/>Good luck. If you figure it out please come back and translate for me.<BR/><BR/>Robert,<BR/><BR/>No, you're on the right planet. I think we need people that can think in these terms, so please stay.<BR/><BR/>Good luck with that story. Sounds interesting.<BR/><BR/>Derryl,<BR/><BR/>True enough. There are so many ways to write within any genre. In truth I just mean there are types of sci/fi that I'll probably never be good at, and that in general I respect the genre so much that I'll likely be slow to try my hand at it myself.<BR/><BR/>Strap-on flying lizards kinky?... Now that I already feel at home with.David Anthony Durhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-41050892277471788422009-01-16T10:48:00.000-05:002009-01-16T10:48:00.000-05:00Strap-on flying lizards? Boy howdy, does that soun...Strap-on flying lizards? Boy howdy, does that sound kinky.<BR/><BR/>Keep in mind, David, that Ursula Le Guin and others can write SF without having to delve into this.<BR/><BR/>DDerryl Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00770159992186256355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-9952094963969312842009-01-16T05:14:00.000-05:002009-01-16T05:14:00.000-05:00I think I must be on the wrong planet again. I had...I think I must be on the wrong planet again. I had no difficulty in understanding the quoted passages, and I'm not a scientist, I'm an engineer.<BR/><BR/>In fact I've just sold a SF story that turns on this sort of physics. How does Santa Claus manage to visit every home on the planet in one night, except by using exotic physics, and what might go wrong with it to make the sleigh crash?<BR/><BR/>However I can sympathise. I can't write fantasy because I run into the problem of making magic consistent with reality. I'd either have to do it the way CSL and JRRT do, where it's really a spinoff from religion, or turn it into humour like JKR's Harry Potter, where the reader suspends disbelief in a different way.<BR/><BR/>OTOH selling real, hard SF depends on finding an editor who likes it, and they are quite rare these days.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-27266348584372739832009-01-16T03:25:00.000-05:002009-01-16T03:25:00.000-05:00I'll give it a try - I was okay with Hawking's Bri...I'll give it a try - I was okay with Hawking's Brief History until I hit Superstring Theory - but just-about caught it on my second re-read. Sounds interesting, though. Hey, we can always memorize the phrases and engage Penrose in conversation... :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-24023038889194908732009-01-15T18:14:00.000-05:002009-01-15T18:14:00.000-05:00Travis,Sorry. Be warned: it gets more confusing th...Travis,<BR/><BR/>Sorry. Be warned: it gets more confusing the more times you read it. For me, at least.<BR/><BR/>Cheryl,<BR/><BR/>I'd take philosophers or lawyers any day... At least, with them I know when I disagree and why and feel some confidence saying so. With this type of theoretical physics etc I feel like I'm treading water in Jello, while trying to solve a Rubik's cube, while being bombarded by tax code... or, what may be only the holographic memory of tax code... Or something like that.<BR/><BR/>Honestly, it feels like my brain just isn't wired to make sense of such stuff.<BR/><BR/>Strangely, I'm okay with that...David Anthony Durhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885922955551669016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-69224124424130680542009-01-15T16:47:00.000-05:002009-01-15T16:47:00.000-05:00Hmm, yeah. I think I see what they are getting at....Hmm, yeah. I think I see what they are getting at.<BR/><BR/>In any case it is way easier than trying to understand philosophers, or lawyers.Cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328347167113836522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12158536.post-82185439543076286342009-01-15T16:32:00.000-05:002009-01-15T16:32:00.000-05:00Thats easily the most confusing paragraph i've eve...Thats easily the most confusing paragraph i've ever read in my life. Thanks for the confusion David. And I thought my day was going so well.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12469571500341592886noreply@blogger.com