Stella’s Comments (group member since Aug 20, 2024)

Stella’s comments from the Science Fiction: The Short Stuff group.

Some passages I really enjoyed and underlined:

"Say what you will about Homo sapiens, but you can’t argue that we’re a versatile species. On Earth, we can survive a decent swath of both heat and cold. We eat a mind-boggling variety of flora and fauna, and can radically change our diets according to need or mood. We can live in deserts, forests, tundras, swamps, plains, mountains, valleys, shorelines, and everything in between. We are generalists, no question. But take us away from our home planet, and our adaptability vanishes..."


"The idea behind Open Cluster Astronautics was simple: citizen-funded spaceflight. Exploration for exploration’s sake. Apolitical, international, non-profit. Donations accepted from anyone, with no kickbacks or concessions or promises of anything beyond a fervent attempt to bring astronauts back from extinction. It began in a post thread kicked off in 2052, a literal moonshot by a collective of frustrated friends from all corners – former thinkers for big names gone bankrupt, starry-eyed academics who wanted to do more than teach the past, government bureau members whose governments no longer..."

"Every body is different, and can only be measured against itself.
"

"Our species evolved for a world that spins. The lengthy days and nights of our planet’s poles prove challenging for our diurnal minds, inviting summer insomnia and winter depression. Falling and staying asleep was one of the most common frustrations for early 21st-century astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, who saw the sun come up every hour and a half in their constant gravitational free-fall. But steady planetary rotation is not a given in the universe, nor even the norm."

I loved this book! It’s everything a sci-fi should be—some real science, something new (but possible) blended seamlessly into the story, and completely believable. It’s the kind of book that stays with you long after you finish reading. A bit of a mind-blower.

It didn’t drag on and yet the point was made - nothing matters if there’s no one left to learn from it, to pass it on.

The only caveat: could a solar flare really destroy all communication systems so completely and permanently?

I will definitely read more Becky Chambers.

--
Also, it was cool to learn where the title comes from—goosebumps!

The title comes from from the opening audio recording on the Voyager Golden Record, spoken by Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and launched into space in 1977:

> I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step.

This is the review i wrote of this novella reading it for the second time in 2020 (It was for a blog post - so a bit lengthy):

# The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster Predicts Social Media


The Shallowness of Social Media and Online Learning in a 100-Year-Old Book: A brief look at the novella by E.M. Forster, The Machine Stops

With the ever-growing expansion of social media influencers and internet gurus who are constantly offering to teach us from their vast experience or depths of accumulated knowledge, I can’t help but think of a novella written by E.M. Forster’s, The Machine Stops.


I read it for the first time about nine years ago, but I have stumbled upon it again recently and was even more shocked by how accurately it predicted the world we live in now. 

**And this is not a small achievement, considering that the novella was written in 1909.**

## Everyone is a Teacher

The onset of the Pandemic has seen an incredible rise in online teachers. They were suddenly everywhere, they kept rising up, offering their services, for free or otherwise. The offers range from full-on live courses to booklets, webinars, infographics, guides and email courses. 

Writing on a subject doesn’t seem to be enough anymore, _you have to teach it_, you have to present yourself as an expert.

There are courses on how to create courses and how to become an expert in a subject matter within days.

It is simple. Find out what people are interested in, make it your niche. Read up on it, market it, and you are good to go. You don’t have to have any significant real-life experiences on the subject, you just need to know a little bit more than your audience. If that.

I took some of these courses, the allure of free is hard to avoid, and, honestly, I even enjoyed some, but to what purpose, to what end?

I kept on taking the webinars. I kept on signing up for email lists offering me free email courses or free downloads. It was like the Pinterest of learning, the allure of promises without any substantial content. 

## The Machine Stops


In the “The Machine Stops” people are controlled by…well.. the Machine. They live underground. The Machine provides them with everything they need, provided they stay compliant with the rules of the Machine. They live in their rooms, they meet occasionally in person but they see each other through the machine wherever in the world they are.

_(It still gets me that video calls/instant messaging were predicted as something regular over 100 years ago!)_

People pass their time mainly by listening to lectures and discussing ideas and concepts which are largely irrelevant to their confined lives.

As an example of irrelevance, our main character prepares lectures on Australian Opera. Everyone can pick a topic and prepare a lecture. People then listen to lectures from the comfort of their rooms. Then they discuss it as if it was the most important thing in the world. 

I was feeling thoroughly unproductive during the Covid19 lockdown. It seemed like the whole world was doing something important in their homes. Learning a new language, a new skill, cooking, crafting, coding or coming up with witty things to post online.  

I picked up the novella I had already read, but this time the message really stood out. Consider this excerpt:

> _“As for Vashti, her life went peacefully forward until the final disaster. She made her room dark and slept; she awoke and made the room light. She lectured and attended lectures. She exchanged ideas with her innumerable friends and believed she was growing more spiritual.”_
>
> _Forster, E. M.. The Machine Stops (p. 28). IAP. Kindle Edition._

The creepy world of E.M. Forster became even creepier by the fact that, at that very moment, I and the many of my fellow humans were actually living it. 

## Takeaways

I asked myself about the significance of it all. What is the point? What do we do with the influx of information, of influencers, of following trends, of watching yet another youtube how to video?

Are we just trying to pass our time until the final disaster?

Or are we living? 

E.M. Forster’s magnificent ability to see the future aside, I hope that my _innumerable online friends_ and I refuse to be Vashti. 

I certainly hope that some of us have actually lived and learned the real lessons from what we are trying to convey to others. That we connect on that level. With purpose and quality.

Dan wrote: "Author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 2 B R 0 2 B is a short story that originally appeared in the January 1962 issue of If.



I think everyone who graduated from high schoo..."

Well... maybe we graduated from high school elsewhere, where the focus was more on other/local writers.

Vonnegut was my own discovery later in life. I never really got into his stuff, but I did happen to read this short story.

But yes, I get the point—sorry, couldn't help but comment on that sentence. There are people from all over the world on Goodreads...

I didn’t finish it yet. I just wanted to comment on “nothing happens” it’s what I hear a lot about book like the Martian, project Hail Mary, Seveneves…

But now you explained more about it the characters and depth, etc.. I’ll let you know what I think once I finish the book. 😀

Many negative reviews of Arthur C. Clarke's novels and other "hard sci-fi" authors seem to come from readers who prefer action-packed stories. I believe sci-fi—especially without fantasy elements—really shines when it focuses on science and world-building. Exploring a new planet is a compelling plot in itself; I’m not sure what else needs to happen.

I find that the story flows well, and the mystery of why the main character is telling the story adds enough suspense for me. But then again, these are the types of stories I enjoy!

I started it last night, and it grabbed me instantly (reading on my Kindle).

Dan wrote: "and for current underrated SF author Cora Buhlert. .."

Looking her up... how prolific: https://corabuhlert.com/

Hi Dan and Rosemary, nice to meet you and thank you for starting the group, Dan.

I’ve always been a huge fan of sci-fi movies (I'll watch almost anything sci-fi), but I wasn’t as into the books, which often seemed like overextended, far-fetched sagas, such as Dune. I also hate it that sci-fi and fantasy is often lumped together.

I am not into bug aliens, Star Wars-style space travel, or stories about kings, queens, and ancient cosmic powers that rule the universe (though I did enjoy what they did with Foundation on Apple TV).

It wasn’t until my forties that I realized what I actually enjoy is called "hard sci-fi."

My first book in the genre was 2001: A Space Odyssey (I had seen the movie, and didn’t even realize there was a book), and since then, I’ve read everything by Arthur C. Clarke, who remains my favorite sci-fi writer. (I even got to visit his house in Colombo, Sri Lanka, which I consider a highlight of my sci-fi life)

I can’t get enough of the genre and am always on the lookout for more. I love Project Hail Mary, Seveneves, The Three-Body Problem among the newer ones.

Thank you for starting these topics and summarizing them for us. I'm looking forward to reading this one. I've heard so much about Becky Chambers, I figured it's time to read something by her.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate has been on my list for awhile.

I love the suggestions above. (The Machine Stops is one of my forever favorites)

I like hard sci-fi and enjoy shorter reads, so this group hits all the right spots.