Can writers really change the world?

photo Chris Ayres

Mention sci-fi visionaries such as Asimov and Philip K. Dick to scientists and techies and they’ll reveal how these guys accurately predicted cybernetics and social media.  Ideas into action. Yet in some quarters they were regarded as pulp writers with vivid (and sometimes weird) imaginations.  

Today, TV soaps like Enders and Corrie have the power to change public perceptions of, and inform about, social issues that lobbyists and charities have struggled for years to publicise. Using storylines covering topics from domestic abuse to, more recently, pancreatic cancer, these dramas raise awareness on a massive scale.  Words have power. 

So why (and how) can “populist” writers succeed in changing the world?  Is the pen (or latest digital writing device) really mightier than a sharp pointy weapon?  I think so.  And I'm glad for that. 

Related post:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/slaves-to-machines.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/are-novels-getting-weirder.html

Slaves to the machines?

The sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov spoke of the concept of Singularity – the evolution of man and machine to form a new being, resulting from the rewiring of our brains as the result of the way we use and develop technology.

We are slaves to our machines.  I think Asimov would enjoy the irony of that.

Can you imagine life before computers?  Before mobile phones?  Before phones? Before TV?

Machines are writer’s friends in so many ways – they have provided us with so many opportunities to create work and get it published and accessible.  I remember typewriters, and the frustration of typing out a novel, using copious amounts of tippex, to realise that actually I need to move Chapter 2 to the end of the book.  Which often meant typing the whole lot out again.  Planning was essential in those days, using paper and pen to map out the structure.  It changed the creative process.

I love the flexibility of word processors and the way I can contact people using email.  The internet provides me with a 24 hour library for research.  But I do often feel like I am chained to my machines – the slavery of my own making.  After all, we do have choices.  But I also worry about the addictive nature of much of our digital technology, and the way we depend so much upon it.

I’ve always had a fascination with robotics and the way that we use machines and how we allow them to take over our lives. And the way that visionary writers such as Asimov and Philip K. Dick imagined futures that are genuinely prophetic.

I wonder what the future holds – will we become further fused with our machines or will there be a backlash? Is the tyranny of technology a double edged sword?

Check out some great articles on the topic here:

http://www.scienceomega.com/article/359/artificial-intelligence-from-fantasy-to-reality?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceOmega_2012Top10

http://www.scienceomega.com/article/856/robotics-and-the-human-brain-nothing-like-the-movies?utm_source=MailingList&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ScienceOmega120312

Related posts:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/are-novels-getting-weirder.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-books-digital-landscape-and-bigger.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/on-connections.html

Leaving footprints

Setting up my Goodreads profile has been an interesting process.  It forced me to think about the books I have read and loved over the years, many of which had been pushed to the recesses of my memory. It reminds me of what a feast of wonderful words are available to us, and how I have not read anywhere near as much as I would have liked this year.  I will try to read more, although often it gets pushed to the bottom of my to do list and confined to days of illness or long journeys.

When I moved house a few years ago I had a major book cull.  I reduced everything down to two large cardboard boxes.  When I moved again I determined only to keep those precious books that meant something special to me, that I would re-read and could not bear to part with.  So various charities benefited from my major clear-out and I had to be very selective about what I kept, due to limited space. (Thank goodness for my kindle!)

Stand out titles include Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, a self-help bible that helped me cope with various life crises and Edith Wharton's heart-wrenching tragedy Ethan Frome; the intense love story Damage by Josephine Hart, and the brilliant Fat: A Love Story by Barbara Wersba, which I read when I worked for Random House many moons ago. I will re-read the wonderful Story of my Life by Jay McInerny and hope to soon pick up again on collected stories of 1930s sci-fi edited by Isaac Asimov.

Of course, by setting up my Goodreads profile, my Facebook page, my blog, my Amazon wishlist and reviews I am leaving a trail of footprints about myself.  Me and millions and millions of others.  And in a way this is reflected in yesterday's post and takes me back to when I started this blog a year ago, when I thought about the future, the impact of technology on our lives and our brains, the prophecies of visionary writers like Philip K Dick and Asimov. My own journey in indie publishing and blogging.  I am leaving traces, revealing myself in a way that is both liberating and frightening.

Feel the fear indeed.....

Related posts:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/are-novels-getting-weirder.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-books-digital-landscape-and-bigger.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/on-connections.html