The World of our Kids
Monday, September 25th, 2006I am an inveterate science fiction fan, and I read as much as I can – although these days, with 3 young kids, that’s not much. I don’t think that science fiction is very useful as a good predictor of the actual future, but it helps keep me sharp by thinking about the way things could be. I especially like the short story format, because you can explore one or two interesting ideas without having to do a lot of the plot and character development required in longer forms.
Bruce Sterling is a great writer in the field right now, and I just ran across a recent short story that is linked below. I am also a Simon and Garfunkel fan from way back, so this quote really resonated with me:
The words of the prophet have vanished from the subway walls.
Finally, since I have the above-mentioned 3 small children, I am continually trying to imagine the world they will live in, so I can try my best to prepare them for it. I am always struggling with where to put the boundaries, so my kids can explore the world, but in a reasonably safe and sane way.
The story is a little depressing, but like all good stories, made me look at the way I think about something important to me – in this case, raising my kids – a little bit differently.