X-Message-Number: 29685
From: "Chris Manning" <>
References: <>
Subject: Re: Acculturation
Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 07:02:42 +1000

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "CryoNet" <>
To: <>
Sent: Saturday, July 28, 2007 7:00 PM
Subject: CryoNet #29681 - #29683


> Message #29681
> References: <>
> From: Kennita Watson <>
> Subject: Re: Acculturation
> Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 03:04:17 -0700
>
>> From: "Chris Manning" <>
>> Subject: Re: Acculturation
>>
>> Why is it appalling? There are not enough hours in the day to read
>> every
>> book I should read, nor watch every film I should watch.
>
> What was appalling is that you'd missed *all* of them.
> I understand that you don't have time for everything,
> but if you're not hanging around people who *insist*
> you keep up with futurist fiction -- especially the
> popular fiction that shapes the way the world looks at
> mavericks like us cryonicists -- then, in the words of
> the prophet, "You need to get out more.".  IMO, of course.
>>
>> I do not have people on,
>
> ??

I'm not sure what this means.

>
>> and my interest in the future is at least as great
>> as your own.
>
> Let's not go there.

Suit yourself. My interest in the future is genuine and is not dependent on 
my having seen particular films.

>> But to me, SF isn't about wars or empires or odd looking
>> creatures with gizmos hanging from the equivalent of their hips.
>> For me that seems
>> to rule out most SF films.
>
> FTR, none of the works I recommended were about any
> of those things (I'm guessing you didn't like Star
> Wars)

I didn't see it.

-- I recommended them because they deal
> with the topic at hand.
>
> The Diamond Age (book):  Nanotechnology (and acculturation, via
> the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer)
> Demolition Man:  Cryonics and future society (and acculturation)
> Vanilla Sky:  Cryonics (and acculturation)
> The Matrix:  virtual reality and future society (and acculturation)
>>
>> I *did* see 'Total Recall'. And I saw and read 'Contact'.
>
> Well, that's something ;-) .
>>
>> Money is not an issue. I don't have a DVD player. I don't even
>> remember what
>> 'DVD' stands for.
>
> Digital Video Disc.

Thank you. I will try to remember.

If money's not an issue, I suggest
> you buy one; it's almost as cheap as renting.

There are any number of things I want to do or should do first.

>
> I still insist that those three movies are Must-Sees for
> futurists.
>>
>> By the time we are revived, DVD players will be in museums, alongside
>> Edison's first phonograph.
>
> Your point?

If there has to be a 'point', I suppose it is that there is nothing special 
about DVD players.

>I'm sure that will be the case, but they're
> the best we have right now, and they make it possible to
> see movies in much higher fidelity than was possible with
> VHS.  However, if you only have a VHS player, get the
> films from Blockbuster in VHS format (assuming they're
> still carrying most films in VHS).  You probably want
> them on DVD, though, so you can get the commentaries,
> making-of, deleted scenes, bloopers, interviews, etc.
> that are never included on a VHS tape.

If it's ideas we are mainly interested in, then the definition of the film 
isn't important.

I suspect I live in a world of my thoughts much more than most people do. 
Maybe that is why I don't feel the need to see these films, and the 
characters in various books I have read (e.g. John Havig & Leonce) seem just 
as vivid to me as if I had seen them in films.

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