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"The first thing that's wrong with being a science-fiction writer today is that the present has caught up with the future and surpassed it."
- Peter Watts
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| Threat Team (of sf writers) | ||
| Gathering together a group of science fiction writers to try to predict what will happen, or to understand an unknown threat. |
The government creates a special think tank of science fiction writers who try to understand the aliens and extrapolate their capabilities. Eventually, they even invited a captured member of the aliens to join their "herd" - the Dreamer Fithp. The military called them the Threat Team.
| They took their places in the lecture room, but they tended to sit for a moment, then get up and gather in clumps. Most of them talked at once. Working with the science-fiction people was an educational experience. They had no reverence for anything or anyone...
"Admiral Carrell has assembled an intelligence group to advise the National Security Council. You are part of it." "Makes sense. Who else knows about aliens?" She looked at her seating chart. Curtis. She nodded. "...You are the Threat Team. The others will assume the aliens are friendly. Our group will examine the possibility they are hostile..." |
| Technovelgy from Footfall,
by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle). Published by Ballantine in 1985 Additional resources -
|
As one character says in the book, you might as well listen to science fiction writers because, in some areas, "they're the only experts we have."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Footfall
More Ideas
and Technology by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Tech news articles related to Footfall
Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven (w/J. Pournelle)
Threat Team (of sf writers)-related
news articles:
- Sigma: SF Writers Advise Homeland Security
- France's 'Red Team' Of Science Fiction Authors
- Does Your Company Need A 'Chief Dreamer'?
| Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF |
| Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment |
| Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth? |
| Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
