[karaterobot]

> Before “offering solutions,” sci-fi must actually grapple with the material realities of our present

These scare quotes are misleading, since the author appears to have just made them up. The only person who used this phrase is him, when he does an imitation of something Neal Stephenson might say. In fact, the point of Project Hieroglyph wasn't to offer solutions, it was to inspire the next generation to come up with solutions of their own. It's a laudable goal, and perfectly in keeping with the use of art, going back a lot longer than SF has been around.

I'm not sure the problem the author has with it, or what he thinks should happen instead. It seems like maybe he just wants stories about "the material realities of the present" in which nothing is allowed to improve at the end of the story, because there is still suffering in the real world? Sounds fun, can't wait to read his books.

[ckozlowski]

I agree. It also suffers from calling out sci-fi as some homogenous group that owes something to everyone else, and that's a premise I think is incorrect.

The writer focuses a lot on Stephenson, and this whole article I think could be simplified by saying "I don't like Neal Stephenson's work because it's too optimistic." Great.

But instead it casts it's premise way too wide, and ends up sounding ridiculous.