Scan barcode
A review by lizshayne
A New History of the Future in 100 Objects: A Fiction by Adrian Hon
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Calling this a fiction just goes to show how much of genre is content rather than form and how little that is necessarily what is interesting about books.
Hon's speculation is fascinating (there's the "I expect this to become obsolete" and then there's no mention of the mRNA vaccine, which tells you everything you need to know about publication date). It's interesting to see where he's optimistic and where he's pessimistic, where he has faith in us and where he, instead, has DEEP skepticism.
I think he might be a bit optimistic when it comes to climate change and ALSO I don't think he was intending to be.
I have my own deep skepticism, about what he imagines growing and what he imagines fundamentally changing. But isn't that always the way, when it comes to the future. And, as someone who loves to imagine SFF AI, I am deeply skeptical any of us will ever see it.
Hon's speculation is fascinating (there's the "I expect this to become obsolete" and then there's no mention of the mRNA vaccine, which tells you everything you need to know about publication date). It's interesting to see where he's optimistic and where he's pessimistic, where he has faith in us and where he, instead, has DEEP skepticism.
I think he might be a bit optimistic when it comes to climate change and ALSO I don't think he was intending to be.
I have my own deep skepticism, about what he imagines growing and what he imagines fundamentally changing. But isn't that always the way, when it comes to the future. And, as someone who loves to imagine SFF AI, I am deeply skeptical any of us will ever see it.