Tomorrow Elephant

… and asks some very interesting questions about the future of science fiction in the light of new theories of mind.

Are we seeing a 21st century approach to character emerging, one that embraces cognitive approches, that to act if to be, and sonme of the contemporary thinking in neuroscience that consciousness is merely an illusion cast over disparate areas of brain function. Character is externalised, diffracted; parts of ourselves may as much lie in our relationships with other, our work life, our online life, our shopping, our music libraries, our Flickr accounts, our blog lives, Life2, WoW: and that the modern way to show and discuss character is in terms of these externalities. Chick-lit does it magnificently in its empowerment-through-consumption approach, as does the brand-dropping of Stephenson and the geek-chic Singularistas. No doubt Douglas Coupland, if I could ever be bothered to read anything by him. But this strikes me as a particularly SF(F)-y thing that the mainstream is slowly cottoning on to: breadth of character rather than Freudian ‘depth’. We’re full of hidden shallows.