The Day After Tomorrow: Near Future SF
What are the challenges of SF set in the near future? What are good examples?
Shiv Ramdas: panelist, writer
Karl Schroeder: author and futurist, love his world, CANDESCE!
Glen Engel-Cox: writer
Caren Gussoff Sumption: writer, mental health professional
SB Divya: author, co-Editor of Escape Pod, data scientist
The vast majority of my professionally published work has been, much to my dismay, based in the Near Future. (I love ALIENS!!!) Most often, the story revolves around genetic engineering – or gengineering. Four of my published pieces deal with aliens, three are historical, and thirteen others deal with us messing around with our Human genetic code.
In one set of stories, Humans mess with the DNA so much that another part of Humanity has splintered off in protest and has narrowed Human to being someone with 65% or more unaltered Human DNA as documented in the 2023 version of the completed Human Genome Project [It was declared complete on April 14, 2003, and included about 92% of the genome. Level "complete genome" was achieved in May 2021, with a remaining only 0.3% bases covered by potential issues. The final gapless assembly was finished in January 2022."
So, anyone with fewer Human genes than that is, by definition NOT Human; though at the same time, they aren’t ALIENS, either. I’ve had two stories published that take place in that universe.
So what else will happen the day after tomorrow?
How about changes in EDUCATION? One of my biggest pet peeves is that for some reason, many SF writers appear to insist that “In the 23rd Century, children will sit in desks while being taught by a Human teacher – with (of course) the obligatory tools of computers…remind you of another century in which computers were integral parts of a classroom? Does “Twentieth” ring a bell? The writers of STAR TREK have kids sitting in desks aboard the FREAKING FLAGSHIP OF THE FREAKING UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS! Oh, and the children are members of a variety of species of aliens – all of whom, apparently, learn the exact way Humans do.
So what else will happen the day after tomorrow?
How about changes in EDUCATION? One of my biggest pet peeves is that for some reason, many SF writers appear to insist that “In the 23rd Century, children will sit in desks while being taught by a Human teacher – with (of course) the obligatory tools of computers…remind you of another century in which computers were integral parts of a classroom? Does “Twentieth” ring a bell? The writers of STAR TREK have kids sitting in desks aboard the FREAKING FLAGSHIP OF THE FREAKING UNITED FEDERATION OF PLANETS! Oh, and the children are members of a variety of species of aliens – all of whom, apparently, learn the exact way Humans do.
AS IF ALL HUMANS LEARN THE SAME WAY!!!!
OK, I’ll try to tone down the shouting. The thing is, no one seems to want to look at the future of education. Is it because they believe that how we educate our children today reached its absolute pinnacle in 1950 and there was nothing else to add? Close the book. End of entry. Bye-bye…
OK, I’ll try to tone down the shouting. The thing is, no one seems to want to look at the future of education. Is it because they believe that how we educate our children today reached its absolute pinnacle in 1950 and there was nothing else to add? Close the book. End of entry. Bye-bye…
Has anyone ever wondered if it a profound limitation of the Human brain that the ONLY way we can learn is by sitting in desks and allowing OTHER people to teach our children, ones who are TRAINED to do it in the CORRECT manner?
I call “Hooey” on that one! If that were actually true, then Abraham Lincoln as well as Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, Agatha Christie, Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander Hamilton (of recent musical fame), MacArthur & Patton, DaVinci, both Wyeths, Brigham Young, John Phillip Sousa, Alex Haley (who, of course, wrote ROOTS), and William F. Buckley (plus several OTHER presidents beside Lincoln and Roosevelt)…would have been uneducated louts because they were HOME SCHOOLED.
“Ah, but that was in the OLDEN DAYS!!! EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW, the 21st Century is so incredibly more complex. We KNOW (and have been repeatedly told by the Education Machine) that parents are in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM QUALIFIED TO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN!!!!” Students ALL need to have access to computers (Note: I originally wrote this before the Educational Fiasco of the Pandemic Years...though I'd like to note that the biggest issue there was that teachers, schools, and other paraprofessionals had to INVENT curriculum and methodologies while the rest of the world pretended that even though everything else had changed, education had not. Many parents assumed that the SCHOOLS would continue to educate students as they always had -- with minimal parental input. The schools on their part, made the assumption that all parents "automatically" knew how to educate their kids. We all know exactly what happened all around the world...)
OK, I’ll pick up the gauntlet you’ve tossed down to tell me that the pandemic has conclusively proven that parents can’t (read: didn’t realize their kids were so DIFFICULT to teach) possibly provide an effective education to their children (read: and pursue their own lives and careers) – [(please keep in mind that I was a middle school and high school science teacher (all levels, grades 6-12; astronomy to zoology; special education; English Language learners; and International Baccalaureate/Honors program) for 31 years; followed by ten years as a counselor; mostly at a near-inner-city high school which drew ten percent of its population FROM inner city families whose intent was for their children to get the best education they could – and I’ve taught at private religious, a public charter school, a summer school program for Gifted and Talented student; as well as homeschooling our own children from K-4th grade and 1st to sixth grade…]. Oh, I'd like to throw a few other homeschooled names out: the first woman confirmed as a US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. The Jonas Brothers were all home schooled. So was Simone Biles (you know, that Olympic Gold Medalist in Gymnastics…); Tim Tebow, Serena and Venus Williams, Ryan Gosling, Emma Watson (yeah the one who had a small part in those little-known movies about some kid named HARRY POTTER…), Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Condoleeza Rice (66th US Secretary of State (as well as first woman, and first African American (under a REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT no less!) to be so appointed. Speaking of which, a fair number of other presidents were homeschooled…)), and mathematics genius Erik Demaine. I’m sure there are other people who have “survived” being homeschooled and who contribute to society in meaningful ways. Oh, and the objection that, “Homeschooling will not give my kids the essential SOCIAL skills that they need to SURVIVE in the world and get a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Yeah, too bad Teddy Roosevelt was such a shy wallflower. Put him and Tim Teboe and Emma Watson in a room and no one would say a word because they haven't been properly socialized...
I’d be willing to bet money that the subject this panel did NOT discuss changes in education (please enlighten me if you were there! The video wasn't available when I tried to watch it...).
I call “Hooey” on that one! If that were actually true, then Abraham Lincoln as well as Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, Agatha Christie, Alexander Graham Bell, Alexander Hamilton (of recent musical fame), MacArthur & Patton, DaVinci, both Wyeths, Brigham Young, John Phillip Sousa, Alex Haley (who, of course, wrote ROOTS), and William F. Buckley (plus several OTHER presidents beside Lincoln and Roosevelt)…would have been uneducated louts because they were HOME SCHOOLED.
“Ah, but that was in the OLDEN DAYS!!! EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW, the 21st Century is so incredibly more complex. We KNOW (and have been repeatedly told by the Education Machine) that parents are in NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM QUALIFIED TO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN!!!!” Students ALL need to have access to computers (Note: I originally wrote this before the Educational Fiasco of the Pandemic Years...though I'd like to note that the biggest issue there was that teachers, schools, and other paraprofessionals had to INVENT curriculum and methodologies while the rest of the world pretended that even though everything else had changed, education had not. Many parents assumed that the SCHOOLS would continue to educate students as they always had -- with minimal parental input. The schools on their part, made the assumption that all parents "automatically" knew how to educate their kids. We all know exactly what happened all around the world...)
OK, I’ll pick up the gauntlet you’ve tossed down to tell me that the pandemic has conclusively proven that parents can’t (read: didn’t realize their kids were so DIFFICULT to teach) possibly provide an effective education to their children (read: and pursue their own lives and careers) – [(please keep in mind that I was a middle school and high school science teacher (all levels, grades 6-12; astronomy to zoology; special education; English Language learners; and International Baccalaureate/Honors program) for 31 years; followed by ten years as a counselor; mostly at a near-inner-city high school which drew ten percent of its population FROM inner city families whose intent was for their children to get the best education they could – and I’ve taught at private religious, a public charter school, a summer school program for Gifted and Talented student; as well as homeschooling our own children from K-4th grade and 1st to sixth grade…]. Oh, I'd like to throw a few other homeschooled names out: the first woman confirmed as a US Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor. The Jonas Brothers were all home schooled. So was Simone Biles (you know, that Olympic Gold Medalist in Gymnastics…); Tim Tebow, Serena and Venus Williams, Ryan Gosling, Emma Watson (yeah the one who had a small part in those little-known movies about some kid named HARRY POTTER…), Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Condoleeza Rice (66th US Secretary of State (as well as first woman, and first African American (under a REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT no less!) to be so appointed. Speaking of which, a fair number of other presidents were homeschooled…)), and mathematics genius Erik Demaine. I’m sure there are other people who have “survived” being homeschooled and who contribute to society in meaningful ways. Oh, and the objection that, “Homeschooling will not give my kids the essential SOCIAL skills that they need to SURVIVE in the world and get a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Yeah, too bad Teddy Roosevelt was such a shy wallflower. Put him and Tim Teboe and Emma Watson in a room and no one would say a word because they haven't been properly socialized...
I’d be willing to bet money that the subject this panel did NOT discuss changes in education (please enlighten me if you were there! The video wasn't available when I tried to watch it...).
However, just adding technology to do the same stuff Humans have been doing at least since 1642 is NOT a paradigm shift. [a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions.] (“The first compulsory education law in this country was enacted in 1642 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony…by 1918, all states had passed school attendance legislation…”) Formal education was initiated in Egyptian history during the Middle Kingdom, around 1040 BCE. So, science fiction writers telling me that public education won’t change in the future (except that we’ll add computers…) is quite honestly ridiculous! I call “Hooey” on that attitude!
I’ll also call, “Where EXACTLY is the creative, forward thinking that made science fiction the ‘literature of ideas’…” I’ve worked on it and I think I have a fascinating and advanced way to teach…and have been regularly and silently rebuffed in my attempts to present OTHER ways that Humans might effectively learn. Can anyone link me to an SF story that actually proposes something that is more than a reiteration of a system that is well over 5000 years old…
(BTW: direct "brain download" isn't something we can do today. Besides, if I simply downloaded all of the data a typical 8th grader learns, followed by the data and textbooks 9th-12th have to receive in order to graduate from High School in Minnesota...THAT WILL GIVE ME A STUDENT WITH A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION?" A brain implant would suffer the same problems -- education requires some sort of matrix onto which "facts" can be hung; as well as a neural network of emotion and context that can integrate the facts...
I wish I could say I’d expect a challenge or response to this suggesting that there’s been SEVERAL stories and novels that show novel, creative ways of teaching. In fact, I am EAGERLY WAITING TO BE SO GIFTED!!!!
…but I sadly doubt that I will.
Reference: https://www.homeschoolacademy.com/blog/famous-homeschoolers/
Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule
Image: https://elearningindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/online-education-is-the-future.jpg
I wish I could say I’d expect a challenge or response to this suggesting that there’s been SEVERAL stories and novels that show novel, creative ways of teaching. In fact, I am EAGERLY WAITING TO BE SO GIFTED!!!!
…but I sadly doubt that I will.
Reference: https://www.homeschoolacademy.com/blog/famous-homeschoolers/
Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule
Image: https://elearningindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/online-education-is-the-future.jpg
I wish I had more time to comment on this. I agree with the main point. Where's the innovation? Technology is great, but you you can't make the horse drink. The unbroken ground is effort and motivation.
ReplyDeleteYep. And new kids require new motivation -- not that motivation is new; but what is it that motivates kids today? The old carrot of "an education" is...less appetizing when it means that they learn stuff, then find out it didn't mean anything...
ReplyDeleteExample: I trained to be a science teacher. The "data" was all fine and updated, but technology was changing so fast, and social mores even faster, that when I reached the classroom, the tech was four or five years slower than society...and so we just banned it: "no, you can't use your phone in classes"; or "no, you can't use a calculator on your math homework or on the test -- or even on the ACT!" [That last was explicit and laid out in the rules. Using a calculator was forbidden because kids would become math illiterates. Which has happened, but NOT because of calculators -- but because of teachers who failed to USE the interest to teach NEW SKILLS. The same happened in my classroom -- 7th grade: Life Science; 8th grade: Earth Science; 9th Grade Physical Science; 10th Grade Biology; 11th/12th grade Physics or Chemistry (but both were SO HARD that we created dumber courses instead of figure out HOW to teach Chem and Phys...sorry, didn't mean to rant...my 8th grade science teacher friend and I strove to make Earth Science RELEVANT to our kids! We went to dig fossils when studying fossils. We had a huge table LOADED with mineral samples when we talked about minerals -- not out of context, but as an integral part of every kid's LIFE! Sorry, I haven't stopped ranting, so I will now...
As for why kids are still sitting in rows of desks in the far future sci fi, that's a major failure of imagination. However, it's modern. So, how do you show education without assuming more ancient modes? Because going forward, it makes more sense to go backwards to apprenticeships. The technology fits, and the needs of society fit the apprenticeship model. "Shut Up" Wesley Crusher didn't need to go to class. (He already knew everything anyway, hence "Shut Up".) He got on the job training. Why couldn't everyone?
ReplyDelete> Oh, and the children are members of a variety of species of aliens – all of whom, apparently, learn the exact way Humans do.
ReplyDeleteNever mind that. I'm amazed all these alien children have compatible pelvic anatomies that enable them to SIT at the same desks humans use. Consider how rare it is, just on Earth, for a vertebrate to NOT have a tail.
Just so everyone knows, I'll be harvesting these comments for a story SOMEDAY about a Human teacher, dropped with a contingent of other First Contact Specialists...who's there for the Human kids and whose other mission is to see if alien kids can even BE educated into Human ways...or something...hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteRead lots of missionary stories. They had similar thoughts about their fellow humans, especially after they met them. Then hit me up for some coaching stories.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a short-term missionary working with Lutheran churches in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Liberia, the thing that amazed me (I retired after teaching science ("Astronomy through Zoology; special ed, regular, English Language learners, and International Baccalaureate/gifted-talented") for 41 years; in Nigerian schools, an old person could enter a kindergarten class if they had no knowledge of letters, numbers, reading, writing, and arithmetic. They would be moved forward a grade when they mastered the skills for that grade; conceivably receiving their HS diploma in a year or two, then moving on to university... THAT'S how education should work...add to that something I've called "query markers"...but I'm going to save THAT for the stories I mentioned above...
ReplyDelete