Why no far future SF?

[Mistral]

Historically, aside from technology, science and medicine, we have not evolved at all in the last 30 thousand years. No reason we will in the next 10K. Considering how other species evolved over millions of years, why would we be any different?

It would be great if someone could make a series of movies about Asimiovs' Foundation and Empire. At least in his, the first wave "Spacers" evolved somewhat more than earth bound humans, but with somewhat tragic results.

I suspect self-evolution will come into play in the next couple of generations...biotech is getting more advanced all of the time.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Historically, aside from technology, science and medicine, we have not evolved at all in the last 30 thousand years. No reason we will in the next 10K. Considering how other species evolved over millions of years, why would we be any different?

It would be great if someone could make a series of movies about Asimiovs' Foundation and Empire. At least in his, the first wave "Spacers" evolved somewhat more than earth bound humans, but with somewhat tragic results.

Some of us have.

Tibetan DNA study reveals human evolution

(CNN) -- Ethnic Tibetans' ability to thrive in high altitudes with low oxygen is the fastest genetic change ever observed in humans, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science.

Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley said their comparison of the genomes of ethnic Tibetan and Han Chinese could help scientists understand how the body deals with decreased oxygen and diseases associated with oxygen deprivation in the womb, according to a news release on the university's website.

The evolutionary biologists say the results of their study, which compares the genomes of 50 Tibetans and 40 Han Chinese, shows that Tibetans rapidly developed a unique ability to survive in altitudes above 13,000 feet, where oxygen levels are about 40 percent lower than at sea level.

The study said that Tibetans evolved to adapt to high altitudes after splitting off from the Han about 2,750 years ago.

 

[Rii]

The point is that the firemen were officers who were enforcing policy, burning anything that threatened free thinking or presented new ideas.

So? If that's all the book was about it wouldn't have been very interesting, the neat 'fireman' schtick aside. Oppressive regimes are a dime-a-dozen, what's notable about Fahrenheit 451 is how little 'oppression' was needed. The people caged themselves in consumerism, self-centred myopia, facile media, and so on; and therein lies the cautionary tale.

I believe a part of the movie "The Fountain" is set in the very far future

Damn straight. One of the best science fiction films ever made, but you won't hear a peep about it here because it doesn't fit the 'geek' mold. Same story with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I enjoyed both. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind can rip out and shred your soul worse than any "tearjerker" ever made.

 

[Python Trek]

Would a movie about a far-flung hi-tech society necessarily have to be expensive to make? What about that old line that any sufficiently advanced society would seem to be using magic? That puts me in the mind of Barbara Eden/Elizabeth Montgomery-style F/X. Dirt cheap.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

The "Andromeda" TV series was already brought up as an example of a far future SF, as it happens some 4000 years in the future. And yet, it doesn't LOOK futuristic mostly due to low budget sets (on some "space station" sets, you could SEE the garage doors of the warehouses they were built in) and poor choices for character wardrobe (jeans and print T-shirts, etc.). The new "Doctor Who" is a similar victim of such issues, with people in the year 100 trillion dressing off the shelf from the local mall, and using 20th century location shooting to match - the Dalek spaceship from a recent episode was made rather unbelievable when you notice the water sprinklers hanging from the ceiling.

Far-future SF is arguably most believable when there's nothing remotely identifiable as contemporary in it, and references to the present day are basically nonexistant. Dune is a pretty good example due to the reasons already noted, and I love its presentation for that.

Mark