Reality Simulation in Science Fiction Literature, Film and Television
Reality Simulation in Science Fiction Literature, Film and Television

Author: Heather Duerre Humann

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2019-08-27

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1476677530

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In recent decades, science fiction in both print and visual media has produced an outpouring of story lines that feature forms of simulated reality. These depictions appear with such frequency that fictional portrayals of simulated worlds have become a popular sci-fi trope--one that prompts timeless questions about the nature of reality while also tapping into contemporary debates about emerging technologies. In combination with tech-driven tensions, this study shows that our collective sense of living in politically uncertain times also propels the popularity of these story lines. Because of the kinds of questions they raise and the cultural anxieties they provoke, these fictional representations provide a window into contemporary culture and demonstrate how we are reassessing our own reality.

Alternative Realities
Alternative Realities

Author: Carl Plantinga

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2020-12-18

Total Pages: 169

ISBN-13: 0813599814

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"Movies are uniquely capable of creating and displaying fantastical worlds. With the rise of CGI came the ascendance of animated fantasy, superhero, and science fiction films. The movies are also capable of representing unique subjective experiences; a movie can be an "experience recorder." Somewhat paradoxically, however, movies are thought to have a strong connection to everyday reality and to have roots in realism. Alternative Realities explores the complex intersection between movies, reality, and fantasy; between subjective and objective representation. It shows that even the most surreal fantasies ground their images, sounds, and narratives in quotidian reality. On the other hand, even the most realistic documentaries and realist dramas rely on creative structures that are products of the human imagination. This combination of realism and imagination, of the objective and the subjective, is the key to the power of movies"--

A Tale Told by a Machine
A Tale Told by a Machine

Author: Heather Duerre Humann

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2023-05-08

Total Pages: 171

ISBN-13: 1476649774

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Intelligent machines have long existed in science fiction, and they now appear in mainstream films such as Bladerunner, Ex Machina, I Am Mother and Her, as well as in a recent proliferation of literary texts narrated from the machine's perspective. These new portrayals of artificial intelligence inevitably foreground dilemmas related to identity and selfhood, concepts being reassessed in the 21st century. Taking a close look at novels like Ancillary Justice, Aurora, All Systems Red, The Actuality, The Unseen World and Klara and the Sun, this work investigates key questions that arise from the use of AI narrators. It describes how these narratives challenge humanist principles by suggesting that selfhood is an illusion, even as they make the case for extending these principles to machines by proposing that they are not so different from humans. The book examines what is at stake with nonhuman narration, the qualities of AI narratives, and what it might mean to relate to a narrator when the voice adopted is that of an AI.

Dystopian States of America
Dystopian States of America

Author: Matthew B. Hill

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2022-09-13

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 1440873399

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Dystopian States of America is a crucial resource that studies the impact of dystopian works on American society-including ways in which they reflect our deep and persistent fears about environmental calamities, authoritarian governments, invasive technologies, and human weakness. Dystopian States of America provides students and researchers with an illuminating resource for understanding the impact and relevance of dystopian and apocalyptic works in contemporary American culture. Through its wide survey of dystopian works in numerous forms and genres, the book encourages readers to connect with these works of fiction and understand how the catastrophically grim or disquieting worlds they portray offer insights into our own current situation. In addition to providing more than 150 encyclopedia articles on a large and representative sample of dystopian/apocalyptic narratives in fiction, film, television, and video games (including popular works that often escape critical inquiry), Dystopian States of America features a suite of critical essays on five themes-war, pandemics, totalitarianism, environmental calamity, and technological overreach-that serve as the foundation for most dystopian worlds of the imagination. These offerings complement one another, enabling readers to explore dystopian conceptions of America and the world from multiple perspectives and vantage points.

Making Futures Work
Making Futures Work

Author: Phil Balagtas

Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

Published: 2024-06-05

Total Pages: 438

ISBN-13: 1098148878

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Learn how to get started with Futures Thinking. With this practical guide, Phil Balagtas, founder of the Design Futures Initiative and the global Speculative Futures network, shows you how designers and futurists have made futures work at companies such as Atari, IBM, Apple, Disney, Autodesk, Lufthansa, and McKinsey & Company. This book demystifies the process of Futures Thinking into a language that's practical and useful for both designers and strategists. You'll learn about Strategic Foresight for using ideas about the future to anticipate and prepare for change; explore Speculative Design to deal with the relationship between science, technology, and humans; and Design Fiction to explore and critique possible futures. Balagtas also shares stories from his journey to build a global community and describes how he works with clients to reshape the futures vocabulary. With this guide, you'll learn how to: Prepare your client, team, and/or audience for futures Facilitate and work with the fundamental methods and frameworks Gain advocacy and support within your organization Provide measurable value from the process and outcomes Build a futures culture and team Sustain a culture and support system beyond projects

Science Fiction Film
Science Fiction Film

Author: J. P. Telotte

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2001-09-24

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9780521596473

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Examines one of the most enduring genres of Hollywood cinema: the science fiction film.

Simulacra and Simulation
Simulacra and Simulation

Author: Jean Baudrillard

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9780472065219

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Develops a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure. This book represents an effort to rethink cultural theory from the perspective of a concept of cultural materialism, one that radically redefines postmodern formulations of the body.

Ready Player One
Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Publisher: Ballantine Books

Published: 2011-08-16

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0307887456

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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Now a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. “Enchanting . . . Willy Wonka meets The Matrix.”—USA Today • “As one adventure leads expertly to the next, time simply evaporates.”—Entertainment Weekly A world at stake. A quest for the ultimate prize. Are you ready? In the year 2045, reality is an ugly place. The only time Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the OASIS, a vast virtual world where most of humanity spends their days. When the eccentric creator of the OASIS dies, he leaves behind a series of fiendish puzzles, based on his obsession with the pop culture of decades past. Whoever is first to solve them will inherit his vast fortune—and control of the OASIS itself. Then Wade cracks the first clue. Suddenly he’s beset by rivals who’ll kill to take this prize. The race is on—and the only way to survive is to win. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly • San Francisco Chronicle • Village Voice • Chicago Sun-Times • iO9 • The AV Club “Delightful . . . the grown-up’s Harry Potter.”—HuffPost “An addictive read . . . part intergalactic scavenger hunt, part romance, and all heart.”—CNN “A most excellent ride . . . Cline stuffs his novel with a cornucopia of pop culture, as if to wink to the reader.”—Boston Globe “Ridiculously fun and large-hearted . . . Cline is that rare writer who can translate his own dorky enthusiasms into prose that’s both hilarious and compassionate.”—NPR “[A] fantastic page-turner . . . starts out like a simple bit of fun and winds up feeling like a rich and plausible picture of future friendships in a world not too distant from our own.”—iO9

Vurt
Vurt

Author: Jeff Noon

Publisher: Watkins Media Limited

Published: 2023-10-10

Total Pages: 341

ISBN-13: 1915202965

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Hailed as the novel that reinvented cyberpunk, The 30th Anniversary edition of Jeff Noon's award winning cult classic, Vurt. Scribble and his gang, the Stash Riders, haunt the streets of an alternate Manchester, chasing the immersive highs that come from Vurt Feathers. Place a feather in your mouth and it takes you to the Vurt: another place, a trip, a shared reality of all our dreams and mythologies. Different coloured feathers provide different experiences, but Scribble is searching for his lost love and only one feather offers the hope of finding her. It’s the ultimate feather, it may not even exist at all: Curious Yellow. But as the Game Cat says, “Be careful, be very careful. This ride is not for the weak.” First published in 1993, Jeff Noon’s extraordinary, influential, award-winning novel transcended SF boundaries and resisted categorization. Alluding to noir and surrealism alike, it was defiantly its own thing and remains so thirty years later. File Under: Fantasy [ Curious Yellow | Urban Wonderland | Game Cat | Living on the Dub Side ]