Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Visionary (for Sir Clarke)

The title of my blog is a reference to an Arthur C. Clarke quote. I think the least I can do is dedicate my first post to the man.

The "visionary" title is thrown around a lot these days. I've heard it ascribed to everyone from Bill Gates to Kim Jong Il. I think it legitimately applies to Mr. Clarke. In a 1945 paper he put forth the idea that would eventually become the geostationary communications satellite. (He was one of several people to describe the concept) He was nominated for an Academy award along with Stanley Kubrick for the writing of "2001: A Space Odyssey". Was nominated for a Nobel prize in 1994 and was Knighted in 2000. I could go on.

I think what attracted me to the author was the accessibility of his writing. Even in his shortest stories you get a profound sense of the man. You feel like you know him and his voice. When he died a few years ago I thought a few minutes about what I should do. I went out on my front step and stared up at the stars. I think he would have approved.

The quote in question is "Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories." I think his point is that our leaders only look forward as far as the next election. They tend to view themselves as heroes instead of as stewards of the future. That's the strength of great science fiction, it allows us to explore all sorts ideas and concepts and their affects on society. I've rambled enough though. I'm neither a very good writer nor a terribly interesting person so I expect that I won't update this blog very often and that even when I do some of it will be about cartoons or stuffed animal violence.

I'll leave you with some more or my favorite Clarke quotes:

"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases: 1- It's completely impossible. 2- It's possible, but it's not worth doing. 3- I said it was a good idea all along."
Arthur C. Clarke

"How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean."
Arthur C. Clarke

"The best measure of a man's honesty isn't his income tax return. It's the zero adjust on his bathroom scale."
Arthur C. Clarke

"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value."
Arthur C. Clarke

"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."
Arthur C. Clarke

Wikiquote for Arthur C. Clarke