Why Should I Read This? (And Who Are These People, Anyhow?)

You've done it, and something like this can't be undone. Like the start of the nuclear age, way back when. You can't stuff it back into the box and tell Pandora you'll get back to her when you're more ..." the senator shrugged "... more "moral," to use the quaint terminology. So if we can't undo it, we'd better have as much control over it as possible.

Pat Cadigan, Synners. (New York: Bantam, 1991) 136.

This is about values.
This is about myriad and amazing possibilities.
This is about shared vision.

The Program

HANS MORAVEC is a world renowned roboticist. His book, Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence, presages the "downloading" of the human brain into robotic bodies. His presentation, Pigs in Cyberspace postulates a future in which robots have urbanized matter, space, and time.

DAVID BRIN, a prolific speculative author, spoke about Gaia, Freedom, and Human Nature.. His concept of information in a rapidly shrinking world is wonderfully developed in his most recent success, the very popular book, Earth.

BRUCE STERLING is one of the founders of the highly influential "cyberpunk" movement. His books include the internationally bestselling collection of cyberpunk stories, Mirrorshades. Free as Air, Free as Water, Free as Knowledge addresses crucial information technology issues for all of us.

DON'T STOP READING! This book is definitely not one long boring lecture. If you decide to skip anything, bypass this introduction. On the pages that follow, you will find fiction, brilliant insights, wild (but plausible) thoughts, and stunning presentations. Obfuscation and heavy technological presentations were forbidden concepts for these authors. They were charged to deliver inspired writing and they did.

Why do we care so much about the quality of the writing? Perhaps it's time to tell you about the genesis of the LITA Imagineering Interest Group.

So that's the first, but not necessarily public, agenda. The group came together because of our love of good ideas, but we also carried an implicit suspicion about someone who purports to have one of those good ideas but can't seem to get it written down in a manner that a normal person can understand. You see, if you can't write clearly, then it sure seems like you probably can't think clearly either. This defined our territory: "Writers" with a capital "W." No hacks need apply. Needless to say, when Milton and I began work on this publication we realized that we had no choice but to create something that would measure up to our standards. The result is in the pages that follow. We tried hard, and I hope you will think we have succeeded.

How about an official agenda? On paper, the goal of the Imagineering Interest Group is "to promote imaginative forecasting and planning for future information systems and technologies by the examination and analysis of science fiction themes and works." I've heard Paul refer to this as non-linear strategic planning. I've also heard it said that forecasting is rhetoric for thinking about the present. Does it work? I'd say so. My every day job is to provide leadership for information technology. Whenever I start us on a significant new direction, the inevitable question from my boss has been, "What are you reading now?" The embarrassing part is that I usually have been reading something really stimulating ... almost always recommended by Paul, Milton, or Charles. The Books About the Future appendix is solely composed of those titles.

Yes, we do love good authors. This has lead us to a simple but satisfying format for meetings. Twice a year, at ALA Annual and Midwinter Conferences, we arrange for one of our favorite authors to drop by for an hour to visit. It's nothing formal. We're just an interest group. The authors share their visionary ideas, and the group asks questions. To date, we've been treated to Hal Clement, Fred Pohl, Elizabeth Anne Hull, Pat Cadigan, and Elizabeth Moon. (Too bad for you if you missed the writing talent that was around after this program!) The agenda is simple: provide the audience with an opportunity for a little enlightenment.

How about another agenda? We rather presumptuously are out to co-opt the authors. LITA members know a lot about information technology and are positioned to have valuable insights into emerging issues. The catch is that we write for and communicate with each other. A large readership for any of us is usually five or maybe ten thousand people. A science fiction author reaches two hundred thousand readers with a single printing of one book. Not only that, by definition they write well and can persuade readers to embrace their thinking. If we can convey possibilities and problems about technology and about the management of information to these authors, they can incorporate that knowledge into their work. We can use their skills and their distribution to reach a much bigger audience!

A significant goal has been to reach a group that would not even consider reading speculative writing, be it fiction or non-fiction. This is an important opportunity to share values and insights, and we have been careful to avoid scaring away anyone who might be intimidated by advanced technology or who might profess lack of interest in the future or who would never read "pulp science fiction." However, as I indicated above, we did not prepare bland, watered down essays. Quite the contrary. The writers were indeed inspired.

Information Technology offers the potential for improved quality of life. Will that improvement be found simply in improved education and health care, or does it mean replacing humanity with robots? Before rejecting that thought as an impossibility, read on. Try Hans Moravec, Slouch Toward the Future with Milton Wolf, and take a peek at Howard Davidson's Clear Vision.

Information Technology offers the potential for transcendence. This is an important and basic human value that could become available for the masses instead of the elite few. William Lidwell and Kim Trull share a beautiful vision in their Transreal Experience, and David Porush pushes the boundaries when he finds Transcendence at the Interface.

Information Technology is having a profound influence on politics and the world order. The failure of the recent USSR coup is perhaps due more than anything else to the inability to shut down communications and computing technology. The context for this quote varies, but one aspect definitely applies here: Information wants to be free. Read David Brin's remarks and contemplate Kathy Fladland's appraisal of his book Earth and how the Internet has already become an entity.

Information Technology can set information free, but it also forces us to be responsible as individuals. A simple communication that reaches millions instantly can have profound implications. Sonia Lyris gives us rules for living in Crime and Punishment in Cyberspace, and Steve Cisler tells about the Canary on the Computer.

I've slighted the other authors by not listing them here, but I want you to read them and not me. Read on!

Your charge as a reader is to trust us. If the writing or the topic in a particular article doesn't draw you in, set it aside and try another one. There are some real treats in these pages.