Quote of the Day

Ted Chiang responds to this post by Sarah Monette and suggests a way of looking at the differences between sf and fantasy:

I submit that what distinguishes magic from science--even imaginary science--is the role of consciousness. Magic has a subjective component--the intention, desire, or willpower of the practitioner--that is explicitly excluded from scientific experimentation.

[...]

This perspective helps illustrate why, even though fantasy doesn't have to be pre-industrial, fantasy works so well with a pre-industrial setting. Before industrialization, it was easier to believe that we lived in a universe that recognized persons. And even though fantasy doesn't have to be nostalgic, it's easy to romanticize the days when an individual's labor mattered, and you couldn't be replaced by a machine.

Similarly, this perspective illustrates why, even though science fiction doesn't have to be about technological advancement, it is so often concerned with the notion of progress. Once conscious intention was removed from the creation of devices, inventions could spread so rapidly that you could see society change within a single lifetime. And even though SF doesn't have to be cautionary, it's easy to worry about the dehumanization that can result when conscious intention is removed from too many aspects of life.

EDIT: Jeff Vandermeer (and Evil Monkey) respond here.

EDIT: And truepenny completes the circle here by arguing that definitions are useful after all.

'Tis the Season

'The Substitute (or, a Very Infernokrusher Christmas)'

by Kinsley Castle

Look, just go read it, ok? (If you don't like it, you have only yourself to blame.)