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Nov 2017

I think you can have a sci-fi slice of life, but it should be more about the setting and how it affects the main character. The point of sci-fi is to speculate after-all.

As for fantasy, it is much easier because most fantasy worlds are kind of already looking backwards so it's not a stretch of the imagination to use them for slice-of-life using fantastic elements as metaphores. Or speculate like in sci-fi using magic instead.

Yep. The scientist isn't the new witch so much as they are the old witch. Back in the middle ages and renaissance, people thought you were a wizard if you had anything approaching a higher education. Legends have grown around people like Nicholas Flamel, Roger Bacon, and Pope Sylvester II.

As a technological determinist I can't agree more. Every bit of social progress owes itself to one invention or another. That also means that every revolutions owes itself to one invention or another.

I would just like to say as an American, we do not fear intelligence. It’s just that the Intellectual population is not as loud (or as entertain for media) so we don’t stand out.

As for sciencist being bad. I think it steams from the ability to seek control over the laws of Nature, that most people ( especially those who are religiously inclind) find to be disturbing. On top of that I can name two “science” experiments that took place in the US that went horribly wrong. One of which was covered in the news during the time and nearly caused the psychologist to lose his job.

The Standford Prison experment by Psychologists Philip Zimbardo (IDK if I spelled that right) , was a social experiment that went wrong. After the participants started to aduse eachother and become violent Zimbardo refused to call off the experiment for a very long time. The participants where locked in a facility that mimiced the social structure of a prision and left to their own devices, and it didn’t end well.

Another example is the Tuskeegee Expermint. A “clinical” study that studied the effects of untreated syphillus. The participants that had the desies where never told that they did and after it was discovered that penicillin shots could treat it, those infected where not given treatment. This experiment exploited a poor black community that was not able to afford healthcare by promissing them free healthcare in return for taking part in the study.

Both these experiments are common knowledge amongst alot of people in America and probably leaves a bad taste in the mouth when it comes to science and what it’s willing to do to gain knowledge.

I guess its like the prime directive in Star Trek when it was being developed. The idea that humanity makes mistakes and we learn to have better ethics. Doctors take the oath of "Do no harm" which applies to both practicing medicine and research. We do autism research in my lab and every 6 months we have to check in for an ethics check so to speak. I can't even tell you the level of certification and how many hands that has to pass through before we are granted clearance to do that research.

With that said, we still have nuclear reactors that get damaged and ravage their surroundings, GMO bees that get free and migrate into the US (way to go scientists in Brazil) and kill people yearly... but I feel like the good things science has brought us far out numbers the bad. Like Tesla's invention of AC/DC current, the discovery of antibiotics, the development of fiber optics (my chemistry professor in college was on the discovery team that invented fiber optics), laser technology, sonar, space exploration, etc. etc. I just wish that story tellers would have stories that have narrative about inventive scientists who save the world instead of destroy it. I think the closest we have to that is Star Trek, October Sky and Hidden Figures... but I can't seem to think of any comic books... sigggghhhh

Scientists just want some positive representation yah know?

I do like Star Trek, and scientist deserve recognition. But it's like every thing else everyone wants to focus on the negative.

I've though of making a science based story with a positive spin. Being a rather sickly individual I always wanted to write a story about someone who gains freedom through science and technology, kinda like Avatar without giant blue people. But I fear I don't know much about math or science and would not want to butcher a story.

Technology has helped me though and I appreciate science and those working in the field, so thank you. I have also worked with children with Autism, and it helped to dispelled some misconceptions. So good luck with your research! And don't go reading my comic about government run faculties experimenting on children and making super humans. (Sorry, it's an easy trope to fall into)

An easy trope, but way too much fun to write :wink:

Unfortunately the days of the Edisonade have passed, along with that of the rest of science fiction. We no longer need convincing about the transformative power of science. Progress is gonna happen anyway.

What we do need are cautionary tales about the dangers of unethical research. For example, an AI is literally an alien mind, it could easily become superintelligent, and there's no guarantee it'll like us. But you can bet that corporations are moving toward it for that sweet competitive edge.

Well, if you ever have any questions, send me a message. :slight_smile: I can probably point you in the right direction. Most scientists are pretty used to rolling their eyes at science in fiction, it doesn't keep us from enjoying it though. :slight_smile:

Aint that the truth

But let's be real, the programmers suffer the most :stuck_out_tongue:

*watches 'hacker' typing* Oh yeah oh sure that's real accurate right there just type magic into the screen without even compiling that's totally what we do, your syntax is probably abhorrent and don't even get me started on the complete lack of debugging which is generally 98% of writing code what do you mean i forgot a semicolon

(ignore us we're all just sassy and bitter it's a perpetual mood - occupational hazard haha)

Medieval people would be suffering along with you, if they were still alive. The amount of misinformation in pop culture is just wretched. Like, did you know that most castles were plastered smooth and whitewashed? It made them more fire-resistant, but mostly it protected the masonry from the elements. But since most shows are shot in semi-neglected ruins . . . It's like if future-people set a movie in the 2010s and had everyone driving Mad Max beater cars.

@sarrowsmith10 What kind of science do you do?

You can get why though. It looks more visually interesting and you can hardly whitewash an entire castle for production.

Still, with CGI as it is I'd love to see a castle like it was. The only time I've seen an accurate castle was in the animated adaption to David McCauley's Castle. And that was a prime piece of 90's edumation.

My background is in biochemical engineering and analytical chemistry, but I'm not a current researcher. I'm a lab manager now, so I do administrative type tasks and keep my crazy lab family from blowing themselves up. (And that's not a funny exaggeration its a very real and dangerous concern) Every day an adventure. :smiley:

This is my lab, if you are interested: https://biodesign.asu.edu/environmental-biotechnology2

I believe you. Any wacky stories? :slight_smile:

I wasn't sure about the new Thor movie but it's been pretty well received so I'll check it out soon. I just got Spider-Man: Homecoming on blue-ray and I want to watch the commentary first before I check new Marvel stuff.

On another movie topic, has anyone seen "Murder on the Orient Express", I was interested when I heard about it 'cause it's been forever since a big budget mystery was made. Haven't seen it due to freelance work.

I haven't seen the new orient express movie but it does look really interesting! It's nice seeing the murder mystery genre make a comeback so I hope it bodes well with audiences

Don't mind me guys, just here for the water.

Refreshing.

Aaaanyway. I was having pretty high hopes for Q4 musically because a lot of albums get released then and there were a lot of acts I'm into that had new music planned for that part of the year. But so far I've been relatively let down. Not technically Q4, but in September I got a live album, and all it did was change my mind about buying the concert DVD which it documents and which I wanted to get before I heard it. Then Hurts released their fourth album, which I find pretty terrible. And then, the cherry on top of the brown cake, The Sound of Arrows, a Swedish pop duo that released one of my most beloved and cherished albums in 2011 and then waited six years to get back in the game, released their thoroughly underwhelming and dissapointing second album. I guess that's a lesson learned on recalibrating your expecations.

Thank goodness for Jessie Ware and Kelela. Plus, I'm holding out for Björk. Her new album is out next Friday, and everything I've heard, seen and read in the lead up is very promising. But, this being Björk, it can very easily crumble to pieces once the actual product arrives.