Culture

Competence Porn In Fiction Versus Gaming

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I loved the article io9 did about the loss of Competence Porn (watching competent people do competent things) in SF. It noted how many SF stories had lost that element, leaving us with assorted “average” guys, non-scientists, and the like facing SF situations. I had to agree, at least on an intuitive level.

I miss tales of scientists and engineers solving stuff. I grew up with Dick Seaton (real name) of the Skylark stories. I, like many, wanted to be Spock or Scotty. I loved the idea of Iron Man and engineers making cool stuff.

I wasn’t into the idea that someone someone who lacks knowledge and skill (and doesn’t acquire them) is going to solve things. Wasn’t believable. Wasn’t a good story really. Didn’t give me anything to aim for.

(I could go into this as part of anti-intellectualism or “My ignorance is the same of your knowledge” trend or whatever, but that’s for later).

This got me thinking about gaming, another form of storytelling.

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Cool Futurism: The Future Arrives In Ski Masks and Leather Jackets Bearing a Cross

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Some time ago Serdar and I were discussing the revival of Omni and the loss of Cool Futurism. I had noted that Cool futurism’s ideas of unity were lost (or not practical), we missed the need for ourselves to evolve, and of course consumerism which made it easy to seem to buy the future. Of course there are other issues I still want to address because I feel there are distinct patterns we should study.

Another factor in the decline of Cool Fururism is it’s dark sibling, a form of Apocalyptic Futurism.

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Elder Geeks Speak: Listening to Us Old People

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Last week I looked into how we Elder Geeks could discuss careers, provide advice, and otherwise help the younger geek crowd career-wise. There’s a challenging series of gaps there, so I wanted to give the advice necessary to bridge those gaps.

Of course the flip side is that, no matter what we do, the other half of the equation are the younger people looking to us for wisdom. Yes, that’s a terrifying thought, but that’s the kind of situation we’re in – guess what old geeks, we are the experts.

But for the younger geeks, I also wanted to provide some advice – how to get the maximum amount of information from us. So here’s my advice for talking – and listening – to us when we get up and blather at conventions and such.

(It may also give ideas about how to arrange events and such).

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