> One of the defining challenges of writing science fiction is explaining to the audience the amazing new things in this world while respecting the fact that the characters already live in that world… For you, this future is cool, but for them it’s just another day with the same old problems.
– [John Scalzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scalzi), speaking at Google
See also Jamais Cascio, “[Your Posthumanism Is Boring Me](http://io9.com/5533833/your-posthumanism-is-boring-me)” and “[Fifteen Minutes Into the Future](http://www.openthefuture.com/2008/05/fifteen_minutes_into_the_futur.html)”, and Stuart Candy, “[Amazing=Mundane](http://futuryst.blogspot.com/2009/03/amazing-mundane.html)”.
> We have science fiction, and science follows it. We imagine it, and it comes true. Yet we don’t have social fiction, so nothing changes. – [Muhammad Yunus](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-moore/science-fiction-and-social-fiction_b_3100989.html)
A nice quote, and a good motivator, though I do think we have [a couple types](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_and_dystopian_fiction) of [social fiction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_science_fiction).
> All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. – [Leo Tolstoy](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/57886-all-great-literature-is-one-of-two-stories-a-man)
> A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. – [Joseph Campbell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces)
> Overcoming the Monster; Rags to Riches; The Quest; Voyage and Return; Comedy; Tragedy; Rebirth – [Christopher Booker](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots)
> Boy Meets Girl, The Little Tailor, and the Man-Who-Learns-Better – [Robert Heinlein](http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2013/09/robert-heinlein-on-writing-of.html)
And [many](http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/plotFARQ.html), [MANY](http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/01/06/plotto/) [more](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2366/what-are-the-seven-basic-literary-plots)…
> In science fiction, the imagined world supports the story; in futurism, the story supports the imagined world.
> It’s a simple but crucial difference, and one that too many casual followers of foresight work miss. If a futurist scenario reads like bad science fiction, it’s because it is bad science fiction, in the sense that it’s not offering the narrative arc that most good pieces of literature rely upon. And if the future presented in a science fiction story is weak futurism, that’s not a surprise either — as long as the future history helps to make the story compelling, it’s done its job.
> Futurists and science fiction writers often “talk shop” when they get together — but fundamentally, their jobs are very, very different. – [Jamais Cascio](http://www.openthefuture.com/2014/03/mirror_mirror_–_science_ficti.html)
Some good guidance on which technique to use depending on what you want to say:
> It’s been said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things. Science fiction the improbable made possible; fantasy the impossible made probable. – [Rod Serling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fk3IB9uF7A&t=3m40s)
Michael Abrash, head of Valve Software’s augmented reality efforts, [talks about why he’s joining Oculus](http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/introducing-michael-abrash-oculus-chief-scientist). It’s interesting how he focuses on the imagined experience from the books as much as the technology, which meanwhile proceeds along its own path. Blending the two is a powerful combination.
> Sometime in 1993 or 1994, I read Snow Crash, and for the first time thought something like the Metaverse might be possible in my lifetime. Around the same time, I saw the first leaked alpha version of Doom…
> Fast-forward fourteen years…
> Then two things happen at about the same time. On one path, Palmer develops his first VR prototype, John and Palmer Luckey connect, Oculus forms and its Kickstarter is wildly successful, DK1 ships, and John becomes Oculus CTO. Meanwhile, I read Ready Player One, strongly recommend it to several members of the AR group, and we come to the conclusion that VR is potentially more interesting than we thought, and far more tractable than AR.
I’ve been rereading [The Diamond Age](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age) and understanding a lot more about the “Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer” which plays a major role. So it was awesome to see that [some Pixar veterans have started to create something very similar for the iPad](http://www.fastcompany.com/3015973/innovation-agents/pixar-vets-unveil-a-genre-busting-ipad-talk-show-that-talks-back)…right down to the [ractors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age#Failure_of_artificial_intelligence):
> Speech engineers interpret the data daily, and alert writers to fresh answers. In one Fireside Chat Winston asks, “What is your favorite ball?” The staff came up with all the ball types they could think of, but in testing the app several kids replied “gumball.” Since that was not in the lineup, the writers concocted a quip to respond to “gumball” and added it to the database…
> So far, more than 3,000 lines have been recorded. The ToyTalk team expects to add fresh material to the app every week. And there’s also a full-time voice actor on staff to record the dialogue.
[Some fun insights in this writeup](http://www.fastcocreate.com/3023518/designing-a-future-of-comfort-color-and-gorgeous-gadgets-in-her) of the production design for [_Her_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne6p6MfLBxc):
> “We kept asking ourselves, ‘What is his new desktop going to look like when he puts the new (Samantha) software in? Finally, Spike came to this brilliant realization, saying, ‘There’s a reason we haven’t figured this out, because it shouldn’t be anything.'”
> “We had this concept: what if we could only see advertising that was all in gorgeous slow motion and there were these beautiful abstract images? Then it becomes kind of a viral game where everybody’s trying to decipher the notion of what these different ads were.”
> Barrett’s most radical re-invention for future Los Angeles: There’s not a car in sight. Steering clear of freeway traffic jams, inhabitants ride bullet trains, take subways and walk. “One of the first things I said in designing Her was, ‘I don’t want to show any cars.'” says Barrett. “It’s another gesture of going away from technology. When you look at any film from any time period and see a car, you can place it right to the year.”
> “The device wasn’t designed to stand out like a gleaming new phone, but to be something you’d lay on the night stand, like your wallet or your address book. We wanted to go right past the surface of the device and into Samantha’s voice.”
> This is why I love SF. I love to read it; I love to write it. The SF writer sees not just possibilities but wild possibilities. It’s not just ‘What if’ – it’s ‘My God; what if’ – in frenzy and hysteria. The Martians are always coming.
– [Philip K. Dick](http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/136554-i-want-to-write-about-people-i-love-and-put)
> To be a futurist, in pursuit of improving reality, is not to have your face continually turned upstream, waiting for the future to come. To improve reality is to clearly see where you are, and then wonder how to make that better. – [Warren Ellis](http://www.warrenellis.com/?p=14314)