Recently, I've read two fascinating sci-fi books:
Remembrance of Earth's Past is a trilogy and quite long. IMHO the 1st book is the finest (endorsed by George R. R. Martin, Mark Zuckerberg, Barack Obama,...). Some notable points:
- The wall we are facing in science: We are trying to understand atoms & sub-atom particles, but not much luck. We cannot build faster computers, or better materials (super strong, super durable,...), and other things because of this. Think about this: how great it is if we can manage/control atoms as easily as we can do with bricks?
- How would the future look like if studying atoms is banned today? In the book, alien "locks" our LHCs, and we cannot study atoms anymore, so in the next 400 years, we have to develop technologies with a current understanding of science. Spoil: it's still okay, but not very okay if we want to be a more advanced civilization.
- If the Earth is threatened by the alien, are we allowed to escape (to a different Solar System)? Should we allow guys like Bezos, Musk to ride away on their luxury ships with their families, while most of us are waiting to die here? Spoil: they are not allowed lol.
- A more general question that includes 1.3: should we be open-minded, and think about multiple solutions for one problem, or do we have to force everyone into "our" one solution only? Should we forbid studying some particular fields? Some questions:
- Should we escape to other Solar Systems, or just in our Solar System is enough?
- Should we study/develop various kinds of space engines?
Six Wakes is "softer" than the trilogy above, and is more about mystery/crime. Say, given that we have perfect cloning technology (that can "copy" both flesh & memory, maybe with some modifications if needed):
- How would the society on Earth change? How would people and religions react/adapt to this?
- How is it like to live in a multi-generation interstellar spaceship (actually, just a small group of people, but they would be cloned after death)
