Context Magazine has a fascinating interview with science fiction authors Bruce Sterling and David Brin. The introduction states “Two modern practitioners of the craftDavid Brin and Bruce Sterlingsay science fiction can help penetrate the murk of the future partly because writers follow technological possibilities to their dramatic extremes, taking them further than most people are constitutionally capable of doing.”.

I’ve always described science fiction as modern philosophy. Examining our essential humanity through the lens of new powers, new abilities, or putting people in settings which act much like philosophical petrie dishes to see how they may behave has always been the province of science fiction. Few other genres are capable of examining humanity from such angles.