RE. Science fiction and transhumanist memes (Sagan's _Contact_)

Alintelbot@aol.com
Tue, 13 Jul 1999 02:22:32 EDT

For a novel that's even more like Sagan's novel than the previously mentioned "Songs from the Stars" (Norman Spinrad), try James Gunn's "The Listeners," which is a fairly rigorous treatment of the "science vs. religion" that Sagan attempts. I wouldn't call either novel especially good, but they're very similar (only Gunn's novel depicts the aliens as virtual clones of humans; their interstellar broadcast is a near dead-ringer for the one we sent from Arecibo).

Radio transmission has never been popular in science fiction, for good reason: it's boring. Now that the Internet is the rage, the "interstellar Net" concept is gaining popularity. Spinrad's book was prescient.

Did anyone see the movie "Virus" a few months ago? It was stupid and cheesy, but the rough premise was straight out of "Mind Children."

Mac Tonnies