X-Message-Number: 7163 Date: Tue, 19 Nov 1996 12:00:10 -0500 (EST) From: Charles Platt <> Subject: Science Fiction Speaking as an ex-science fiction writer, I agree with Steve Bridge that most people who read science fiction have zero interest in APPLYING its concepts (such as cryonics) to their real lives. It took me about ten years to accept this unpalatable fact. Moreover the situation is actually worse than this. Go to your local bookstore, and you will have a hard time actually finding science fiction, these days, that deals with speculative concepts in a rational way. You will find Star Trek books, you will find X-Files books, you will find HUNDREDS of books about witches/princesses/dragons, and you may find a few books about space mercenaries incinerating aliens with powerful lasers. But the science fiction of the 1950s, which explored the near-future implications of science in a rational context, is just about dead. Evidently the people who are interested in that kind of stuff are now surfing the net or reading technology magazines or playing video games or otherwise INTERACTING with the science-enhanced world. I certainly am. I'm not saying it is necessarily unproductive to look for cryonics members at science-fiction events. I'm sure the odds are better than at most other events--such as meetings at the local Catholic church, for instance. But still not good. --Charles Platt CryoCare Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7163