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Journal by khallow
Recently there have been several stories about recent space activities and our thoughts have naturally turned towards the possibility of space colonization. My view has been that not only will that happen, but some day there will be more people living off of Earth than on it.
When that happens, their mere existence will skew what is perceived as the greatest and most influential works of literature on Earth. For it won't be the great religious works of the major religions by which our descendants in space will be able to trace their mere existence. The Bible, Koran, I Ching, or the Vedas won't get us there. It won't be the great works of philosophy from Plato's many works through to modern times. Or almost anything we consider great literature today. One doesn't get into space by the unsteady hand of Hamlet, for example.
Works of economics are similarly disfranchised. This future might be enabled by Das Kapital or Wealth of Nations, but it's not going to be able to trace its lineage to these. Nor most great works of science such as Origin of Species (though Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica will have a prominent role in the foundation leading up to this great work).
There is a peculiar aspect to early space engineering (basically everything before the Second World War). Namely, that it was very insular, even from its closest neighbor, astronomy which would reasonably be thought to share common interests. There are very few notable researchers in the field until one gets to the late 1920s. There was little official interest in space development until the Nazis got involved in the mid-30s. But they all share common inspiration. And everything that involves putting anything in space or doing anything in space comes from this inspiration.
So when humanity has gone beyond Earth, there will be one work of literature which will stand out from all the rest. I, of course, speak of From the Earth to the Moon, by Jules Verne, published in 1865.
When that happens, their mere existence will skew what is perceived as the greatest and most influential works of literature on Earth. For it won't be the great religious works of the major religions by which our descendants in space will be able to trace their mere existence. The Bible, Koran, I Ching, or the Vedas won't get us there. It won't be the great works of philosophy from Plato's many works through to modern times. Or almost anything we consider great literature today. One doesn't get into space by the unsteady hand of Hamlet, for example.
Works of economics are similarly disfranchised. This future might be enabled by Das Kapital or Wealth of Nations, but it's not going to be able to trace its lineage to these. Nor most great works of science such as Origin of Species (though Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica will have a prominent role in the foundation leading up to this great work).
There is a peculiar aspect to early space engineering (basically everything before the Second World War). Namely, that it was very insular, even from its closest neighbor, astronomy which would reasonably be thought to share common interests. There are very few notable researchers in the field until one gets to the late 1920s. There was little official interest in space development until the Nazis got involved in the mid-30s. But they all share common inspiration. And everything that involves putting anything in space or doing anything in space comes from this inspiration.
So when humanity has gone beyond Earth, there will be one work of literature which will stand out from all the rest. I, of course, speak of From the Earth to the Moon, by Jules Verne, published in 1865.
The most influential work of literature?
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Sunday October 09 2016, @02:17AM
SirFinkus and I want to start a SoylentNews book club, with its own nexus. This would be a good candidate for one of the books to be discussed. One book a month is the plan.
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(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday October 09 2016, @03:07PM
Now this I would agree with, although you may not like the idea of me being a part of it -- I've read no sci-fi(well, except for this [amazon.com]) or fantasy and I'd be putting my dick in the mashed potatoes with Atlanta Nights, Hannibal Lecter, Dostoevsky, and Hunter S. Thompson. Hey, I'm trying to fit in, I really am. I'm reading Starship Troopers and I do intend to finish it!
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday October 09 2016, @03:48PM
I don't care how you choose to participate (I'll take... anything?). It's fun for the whole family and the format of it should allow more than enough time for most of the interested users to read the bookz. We want book suggestions after the first run, probably.
We don't have to keep it to just science fiction, although SirFinkus is not keen on having non-fiction works in there.
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(Score: 2) by JNCF on Sunday October 09 2016, @05:44PM
Going super meta, we could read something by mcgrew [mcgrewbooks.com] or devlux [wattpad.com]. I don't think devlux has any finished novels, or anything available in print, but mcgrew's Nobots and Mars, Ho! are both available in print as well as legally free (as in beer) ebooks. I haven't actually read them so I can't personally vouch for either of those novels, but I've enjoyed some of his short fiction that he's posted on the site. I don't know of any other Soylentils who propagate their fiction.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday October 09 2016, @09:27PM
I did suggest mcgrew. You can check what was said by searching the IRC logs. But I would like to get mcgrew on the menu at some point, since it would give me an excuse to finally read what he has to offer. I also admire the man's "throw it on the Web for all to see" stance.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Sunday October 09 2016, @03:50PM
For me, it's 'A Canticle for Leibowitz'. Great book.
For series, i'd say 'Game of Thrones'. I 'get' it and enjoy it more than the Lord of the Rings series.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 12 2016, @06:15AM
Too bad Tolkien wasn't alive and active today. Imagine him creating an LoTR wiki and adding stuff to it all the time (just look at The Silmarillion to see what I mean: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion ). I'd probably get caught up in such a wiki for more hours than from his books.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Sir Finkus on Friday October 14 2016, @03:00AM
For me, it's 'A Canticle for Leibowitz'. Great book.
Oh fuck you
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(Score: 2) by Webweasel on Monday October 10 2016, @10:25AM
I'd be up for that.
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