What are some examples of anachronisms in science fiction literature?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion explores examples of anachronisms in science fiction literature, examining how certain technologies or societal elements from the past appear in futuristic settings. Participants reference various works, including novels and films, to illustrate their points.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants mention the use of slide rules and pay phones in Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and Gibson's "Neuromancer" as anachronistic elements.
  • Asimov's Foundation series is noted for featuring interstellar messages written on paper and a scene where a protagonist reads a local newspaper on a distant planet.
  • One participant points out that many science fiction works from the 70s and 80s depicted a future without the USSR, often predicting faster-than-light (FTL) travel around 2050.
  • Stanisław Lem's works are cited for including outdated technologies like radiotelegraphy and the introduction of e-books in a futuristic context.
  • A participant questions the logic of requiring human pilots for course adjustments in Niven's "Ringworld," despite advanced technologies being available.
  • There is a discussion about the deliberate use of anachronisms in works like "Star Wars" and "Firefly," and whether similar elements could fit into a more scientifically rigorous exoplanet setting.
  • Some participants express frustration with the portrayal of future warfare resembling World War II, suggesting that future combat would likely be more automated.
  • References are made to older stories that still relied on vacuum tubes, with a participant noting their continued relevance in certain applications.
  • Asimov's "The Last Question" is mentioned for its depiction of outdated technology like relays and teletype machines in a future setting.
  • There are humorous exchanges about how modern interpretations of older works might change character interactions and technology usage.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the presence and implications of anachronisms in science fiction, with no clear consensus on whether these elements enhance or detract from the narratives.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions highlight limitations in the portrayal of technology and societal structures in science fiction, noting that assumptions about future advancements may not hold true.

BWV
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two that come to mind are the students in starship pilot school in one of the old Heinlein books (Starship Troopers maybe?) using slide rules and characters using pay phones in William Gibson's Neuromancer because they did not have cell phones
 
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Asimov always comes to mind in these sorts of examples, particularly the foundation series in which interstellar messages were often written on paper. If I remember correctly there's even a scene where the far future protagonist lands his spaceship on a planet and picks up a local news paper in order to get an understanding of local affairs.
 
Also how many sf books in the 70s and 80s had the USSR not surviving into this century when they plotted out their future timelines (which all seemed to also put FTL travel discovered sometime around 2050)?
I can't think of one
 
From Stanisław Lem books:
-radiotelegraphist on a space ship
-a new technology for an astronaut who returned from STL star travel is... something like ebook / audiobook
 
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This is sort of a achronism: in Niven's Ringworld the hyperdrive on FTL ships requires a human pilot to adjust the course every now and then to avoid stars. They can build interstellar spaceships, reactionless drives and medicine to halt aging but they can't fix up a simple autopilot??
 
Sorry if it should be another topic (however it is about SF and anachronism), but what do you think about deliberately using anachronism, like the western elements of Star Wars, Firefly, medieval elements of W40k, egyptian elements of Stargate?
Could you imagine anything like that in a harder, exoplanet setting? (Not really live like in an ancient society, but similar names, celebrations, arts.)
 
https://scontent.fbom1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/s720x720/12002449_492696784242809_6979821642589047030_o.jpg
Doctor-guitar-axe-fight-Doctor-Who-9x01.bmp.jpg
 
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BWV said:
Also how many sf books in the 70s and 80s had the USSR not surviving into this century when they plotted out their future timelines

And how do you know that by 2050 the USSR won't be back? :oldwink:
 
  • #10
Ryan_m_b said:
This is sort of a achronism: in Niven's Ringworld the hyperdrive on FTL ships requires a human pilot to adjust the course every now and then to avoid stars. They can build interstellar spaceships, reactionless drives and medicine to halt aging but they can't fix up a simple autopilot??
Niven covers this by explaining that the mass detector ( the device that allowed one to sense masses while in hyperspace) was psionic in nature( it could only be used by a living sentient mind and could not be tied into any type of automation.). If you were traveling through explored space, you might have been able to set up an automated course to avoid known stars, but in this novel they were traveling well beyond explored space and in a new type of hyper-drive that was much faster. Also, humans did not invent the hyper-drive, but bought the technology from another race and there were quite a few things about it they still did not understand. ( such as why did ships in hyper-drive vanish, never to be seen again, if they entered too deep into gravity well, and what happened to them?)
 
  • #11
I've read a few older stories set in the "future" where they still relied on vacuum tubes in their electronics.
 
  • #12
It bugs me when future warfare is so similar to World War Two. I would be very surprised if humans would be aiming any weapons visually/manually or the captain be calling "Fire!" Computers would be doing it all. Indeed, the presence of human beings in a warship would be highly undesirable as they and their life support systems are too heavy and vulnerable.
 
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  • #13
Hornbein said:
I would be very surprised if humans would be aiming any weapons visually/manually or the captain be calling "Fire!"
Two words: Star Trek.

"Captain the Klingon is powering up her disruptors."
"Shields up, Leiuten-" BLAM!
 
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  • #14
Janus said:
I've read a few older stories set in the "future" where they still relied on vacuum tubes in their electronics.

Tubes are more immune to EM pulses. They are still used in high frequency amplification and generation of EM radiation and in audio amplifiers. So they have not as yet completely gone away.
 
  • #15
Janus said:
I've read a few older stories set in the "future" where they still relied on vacuum tubes in their electronics.

I happened to re-read Asimov's "The Last Question" (1956) just now. The first section is set in 2061, when a couple of technicians decide to ask the giant computer Multivac the "last question" for the first time.

Multivac fell dead and silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended. Then, just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of Multivac. Five words were printed: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.

Flashing lights? Relays? Teletype? :wideeyed:

If Asimov were writing this story today, he'd probably have the technicians using a Multivac app on their phones.

[added] Although probably not this one:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/multivac-update/9nblggh5x091
 
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  • #16
I envision a great mashup!
jtbell said:
Multivac fell dead and silent. The slow flashing of lights ceased, the distant sounds of clicking relays ended. Then, just as the frightened technicians felt they could hold their breath no longer, there was a sudden springing to life of the teletype attached to that portion of Multivac.
I HAVE AN ANSWER.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO LIKE IT...
 
  • #17
jtbell said:
If Asimov were writing this story today, he'd probably have the technicians using a Multivac app on their phones.

They waited in tense silence as the hourglass rotated. Then the screen went blank. Slowly the words formed,

DOWNLOAD KARDASHIAN PORN NOW!
 
  • #18
DaveC426913 said:
"Captain the Klingon is powering up her disruptors."
"Shields up, Leiuten-" BLAM!

"Captain Picard, the enemy is approaching"
"Mr. Worf, fire at will."
<brzaaap!> <thud>
"No, no, that's not what I meant".

The use of computers in the original series looks kind of funny in retrospect. The artificial voice - Siri can do better. The impact printing on little slips of paper? The blinkenlights?

Hornbein said:
It bugs me when future warfare is so similar to World War Two.

Read Honor Harrington novels then. Instead of WW2, you get the Age of Sail.

The map in Raiders of the Lost Ark depicts a middle east that never was -but is more in line with 1981 than 1936. "Jordan" didn't exist in 1936.

That said, I think it's worth taking the advice from MST3K: " Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax."
 
  • #19
Vanadium 50 said:
The use of computers in the original series looks kind of funny in retrospect. The artificial voice - Siri can do better. The impact printing on little slips of paper? The blinkenlights?

The problem is/was, the audience has to be able to recognize it. If the voice sounded perfectly human, how would anyone know it was a computer?

Star Trek tried using futuristic salt shakers. The audience couldn't recognize it as a salt shaker, so back they went to the trad model. Dr. McCoy got the futuristic salt shakers to use as medical instruments. To me it was funny because my family used those futuristic salt shakers in real life.

I like to imagine that if we ate that food that came out of those machines we'd spit it out because it tasted so bad. The Star Trek people had been eating it their whole lives so they were used to it.
 
  • #20
Vanadium 50 said:
And how do you know that by 2050 the USSR won't be back? :oldwink:

That's a pretty cool idea. But it wouldn't sell.
 
  • #21
gleem said:
Tubes are more immune to EM pulses.
More resistant perhaps than modern solid state electronics, not immune. The advantage of tubes lies with immunity to particle radiation; a voltage surge across a filament can still kill it.
 
  • #22
Hornbein said:
Star Trek tried using futuristic salt shakers. The audience couldn't recognize it as a salt shaker, so back they went to the trad model. Dr. McCoy got the futuristic salt shakers to use as medical instruments.

Haha, I learn something new every day here! :woot:

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/shakers2.jpg
 

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