Science and Technology provides Hope

The home of human civilization.

Times are dark. The US presidential election is entering its final week and it is not clear who will emerge victorious. Syria and Iraq are in flames, as are many other parts of the world and many more millions of people face starvation or are locked in poverty.

We are living in 'Interesting Times' as the ancient Chinese would say. They did not mean it as a blessing.

I could throw my hands up in despair at my fellow humans. We are destroying our only functional bio-sphere. We are driving some many ecosystems into annihilation. Species like the African Elephant. Why? What has this placid creatures done to harm us? We are killing them for their teeth apparently. 

So humanity, do we really deserve to exist? Maybe Donald Trump will blast us all into oblivion. 

Obviously I hope not.

The next three or four years are critical. Britain like the USA has suffered badly in the aftermath of the 2008 Lehman's Brothers financial crash. Rather I should say, certain sections of society have. The top 0.1% have done quite well thank you. Everyone else is struggling. America has done marginally better than Europe it has to be said but the challenges faced by most people on both sides of the Atlantic have been server.  British incomes have fallen by an average of 10% in the last eight years. In this context the rise of nationalistic sentiment (BREXIT and Trump) can be understood if not condoned.

But it will get better.

If, and it is a big if, we don't slide further towards chaos then there is hope. Science and technology are promising a new beginning. We just have to hold the line. The economy is going to recover. It is going to grow like never before. A revolution in the way we live our lives is opening up. We just need to survive long enough to enjoy it.

Renewable energy tech is advancing rapidly. Solar, wind, wave and other clean energy sources are transforming how power grids are structured and leading to the development of battery giga-factories such as the one being constructed by Elon Musk's Tesla corporation. Power packs and electric vehicles will clean our cities and free us from over dependence on dirty fuel. Changes in food production could, if applied more wisely, lead to an end to world hunger. 

Something else is happening which could be even bigger. A new way of using the potential of the Internet is spreading across the globe, from one industry sector to another. It promises to enable 'Trust' between different parties via the use of cryptographic techniques, game theory and good old fashioned software engineering. It is called 'Blockchain'. Imagine not needing to use a bank to make a payment or being able to easily verify the validity of a fact with high accuracy without having to go to a single authority to do so. This means one thing, decentralization of power. All kinds of power. Economic, social and above all political authorities will lose their monopolies.

It will change the world.

So, keep the faith. Hold the line. Do not give in to the politics of despair and denial. We can pull ourselves back from this hideous brink we are staring into. The future can be better than the past and we can utilize the creativity of our species to save ourselves.

But it is not a given. I am still optimistic though.

A Purpose for Science Fiction.

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I have believed that the future will be better than the past. From an early age I have been interested in stories and narratives that paint pictures of how things will be. Perhaps I am naive but I just do not accept that 'what

we have now is the best that things can be'

Science Fiction is about answering the question 'What if things were different?' I used to love Star Trek for it utopia vision. Gene Roddenberry's creation inspired my own ideas. I watched other shows when I was a child too, such as Doctor Who and Blake 7 and many, many more. I wrote stories of my own. The first one when I was aged about six I think. I never really gave up and here I am aged forty two and still writing.

But the world will actually live in is far from perfect. 'The Hunger Games' is perhaps more representative of where we heading.

I left my job to help others prevent this future, or ones like it from becoming reality. I am writer by inclination and now by trade. I intend to use my own SF series 'The Eternity Sequence' to raise funds to help repair the damage others have done. I will do the best job I can. I have other series in the making too. I won't give up.

But we all need to weave a different narrative to the one that pervades our media saturated lives. We have to keep dreaming of better ways of living, of being and 'of becoming'. We must find he solutions to our societies challenges. We need to look inside 'inner space' as much, if not more, that going out into the universe beyond. 

Above all we must keep asking the question "What if things were different?" Because I firmly believe that what we have now is not the best that things can be.

We must help them ('The Refugees')

My name is Andrew. Until about three weeks ago I worked as a Software Test Engineer in a safe industry sector. I was well paid. Things could have continued like that for years if I had let them.

But have a look at this place...

Yes, this is 'The Jungle' a place of misery and, for some, misplaced hope. thousands of refugees were until a few days ago, crowded in this squalor, desperate to find passage across the channel.

Many hundreds of the refugees here were children (I refuse to use the term Migrant. We are not talking about animals crossing the African savanna - These are people fleeing war and persecution)  

Well the French have burnt the camp down and are sending in the bulldozers. They haven't accounted for all of the children yet but that fact has not slowed them in their eagerness to 'accomplish' their 'mission'

So there you are. A little bit of context.

Like you, I watched this on the news. I went to work. I pretended that I was 'making a difference' in my job. I took the salary home that I was offered. I tried not to think.

But I am not very good at that. And I also failed at 'not feeling' as well. I am a bit lousy at the 'not feeling' bit.

I quit my job and said that enough is enough. Right or wrong I will dedicate all of my efforts to help these poor vulnerable people who have been abandoned by the governments who should have taken care of them. My plan is to write and work as hard as possible to raise funds and awareness for this and similar courses. I may lose my shirt but hell, I won't lose my life. 

On Tuesday (two days ago) I visited Stroud's 'International Cafe'. I watched Syrian children running around with their English playmates (bashing each other over the head with balloons mostly this week), the teenagers being teenagers and the adults just relaxing over cups of tea. It was fantastic. This is what keeps it all 'real' and 'focused' for me. This people deserve our help.

I will be publishing my first science fiction story early in the new year. If I make enough so I cover by very basic costs I will donate the vast bulk of the rest to local charities. If I hold any money back it will be to invest in even better ways of raising money.

So, please support me. Even more importantly, please support them.

The Children of Aleppo

Here is a letter I felt moved to write to my local newspapers. I hope they print it but I would like to share it with you all in any case. Our world is sliding into darkness and we need to do what ever we can to stop this from happening.

"... 
Where to start? I am an avid reading your both your publication and also many other newspapers and current affairs outlets. I find myself, at times, at the point of despair. Has the world gone mad?

Hospitals are being barrell bombed. Children are being left on their own refugee camps across the Middle East and even in on our doorstep. The perpetrators of this violence go not only unpunished but not even, to a large extent, even challenged by our government and their allies. In Yemen we actually supply the instruments of death, duly delivered to their targets by our ‘friends’ the Saudi Arabians.

I could easily give up on the human race. We are callous, hairless primates bent on our own self destruction. However this is not the whole story. This is not how things have to be. Human beings can be better. We are better than this.

I saw a video on Facebook about ‘The Toymaker of Aleppo’. This is man who comes from Finland and has 6 of his own children. He risks everything to smuggle soft toys (and other supplies) into the Syria’s largest city. The children of that tormented place flock to him when he arrives. What a hero. What an amazing human being. We are better than the cynical murdering leaders who have driven us to this situation.

So what can we do? What can I do? Well I honestly do not know what the answer to this crisis is. But we can look in the mirror and we can search our souls and whatever we ‘can’ do we must. I am still an optimist.

We can stop this.

Yours faithfully,


Andrew Fisk
..."

A brief review of 'Assassin in Orlandes'

For those who have not encountered them before, gamebooks are games that are books. Yep, that simple. They are non linear stories with game elements.

They reached their heyday in the late 1980's and early 90's but to my great delight they appear to be making something of a comeback.

One of the champions of this new wave of interactive fiction is the Melbourne based Tin Man Games. They have produced numerous new titles as well as reviving some classics in the form of mobile apps. Now in a new venture with Snowbooks they are beginning to publish these digital stories in physical form.

There is a certain poetic justice in this. The genre is returning to its roots perhaps?

The first of these publications is 'Assassin in Orlandes." I had downloaded the excellent Android App some time ago and I had explored the world of Orlandes City (rather unsuccessfully! I kept getting killed...!) but I am a physical kind of guy and I love books so imagine my reaction when I knew I read this award winning game in good old fashion wood pulp. The paperback edition became available on Amazon and I ordered my copy without hesitation.

I was not disappointed.

The book arrived a few days ago and it took me a couple of hours for me to complete. I have a confession to make. I did cheat a bit. I read gamebooks rather than play them. I found the story in 'Assassin in Orlandes' interesting enough to hold my attention. I was amused at the way the rules were integrated into the main flow of the book. Unlimited cheating is possible. Thankfully!

The early part of the book is fairly straight forward. The middle section increases the complexity of the game. There is plenty of opportunities to engage in fights and there are a few puzzles. The final section enfolds with a surprise towards the end.

There are no spoilers here.

I think I would give this gamebook a score of 8 out of 10. As I say, the story held my attention and the rule system was simple. I can see why this gamebook won awards. The writing is also well crafted. I did think that the print quality of the paperback wasn't as good as it could be but the price I paid (£8:99 on Amazon) was not exorbitant and I felt I had value for money. One of the things I loved about the app version was the maps that were included. That was one thing missing from the book and I would have been willing to part with more money if for these kinds of features.

To summarise is enjoyed the paperback and I look forward to more gamebooks from Tin Man Games and Snowbooks.