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culture

New Release / Giveaway: Transform the World Anthology

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Transform the World

There’s a new hopepunk book out in the Writers Save the World anthology series from Other Worlds Ink: Transform the World. And there’s a giveaway. FOURTEEN WAYS TO CHANGE THE PLANET Income inequality is worse than it was in the Roaring Twenties. Corporations are moving fast and breaking things, and the social contract seems to be falling apart, aided by social media disruption and division on steroids. There has to be a better way. We asked fourteen sci-fi writers to come up with innovative ways the world could work better. Universal basic income, smaller communities, AI voting, and learning to … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Intelligence and Class in the Future

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astronaut brains - pixabay

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Thea Nishimori: We seem to have a growing socio-economical divide. How could that influence intelligence in the human race in the future? Over the long run, could social forces end up being a driver for evolution, either toward or away from higher intelligence, ie: could being rich or poor make our descendants either smarter or dumber? Writers: This is a writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the … Read more

FOR WRITERS: Writing a Warming World

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climate change - pixabay

FOR WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: As the climate changes, there will be all kinds of ramifications – on the physical world, on society, and on our institutions. How do you forsee the world changing? What sci fi nuggets can we pry out of it? And can we somehow make a difference in the shape of things to come? Join the chat

HISTORY: Was Ancient Greece Really a Gay Paradise?

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Greece statue - pixabay

Alastair Blanchard from the University of Queensland writes about why your ideas about homosexuality in Ancient Greece might be wrong. In recent years, we have seen significant advances won for LGBT rights through hard-fought legal cases and well-targeted political campaigns. Yet it is worth remembering that for decades, recourse to such methods was not available to LGBT people. The law-court and the parliament were deaf to their pleas. For many, it was only in their dreams that they could escape oppression. One should not underplay the importance of such fantasies. They provided succour and hope in a grim world. It … Read more

Worldbuilding Week Day Three: Politics and Culture

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Worldbuilding Week

Welcome to the second annual Worldbuilding Week at QSF. We’ll talk about all aspects of building a world for your story, including languages; alien/magical races; history and timelines; culture and politics; sex, marriage and reproduction; and tools and techniques. It should be a lot of fun. Today we’re talking about culture and politics, and Lloyd A. Meeker will be our moderator. Here’s my take: There are really only two over-arching questions for you to answer in your world-building task: 1) How is it different from the familiar world? 2) How is it similar to the familiar world? Very often a … Read more

WORLDBUILDING WEEK: Day Four – Navigating Culture & Politics

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Worldbuilting Week

Welcome to the first annual Worldbuilding Week at QSF. We’ll talk about all aspects of building a world for your story, including languages; alien/magical races; history and timelines; culture and politics; sex, marriage and reproduction; and tools and techniques. It should be a lot of fun. OK, so you’ve come up with your very own language for your new world. You’ve chosen the most awesome-ever aliens or magical creatures to populate it. And you’ve set up a timeline for your history/ Now you have to build the culture that they’ll live in. Some things to consider – what kind of … Read more