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Comment by teo_zero | Hacker News Reader

You shouldn't take a sci-fi writer's words as a prophecy. Especially when he's using an ingenious gimmick to justify his job. I mean, we know that it's impossible for anyone to tell how the world will be like after the singularity, by the very definition of singularity. Therefore Herbert had to devise a ploy to plausibly explain why the singularity hadn't happened in his universe.

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I agree with the fact that fiction isn't prophetic, but it can definitely be a societal-wide warning shot. On a personal level, it's not that far-fetched to read a piece of fiction that challenges one's perception on many levels, and as a result changes the behavior of the person itself.

Fiction should not be trivialized and shun because it's fiction, and should be judged by its contents and message. To paraphrase a video game quote from Metaphor; Re-Fantazio: "Fantasy is not just fiction".

I like the idea that Frank Herbert’s job was at risk and that’s why he had to write about the Butlerian Jihad because it kind of sounds like on the other side you have Ray Kurzweil, who does not have to justify his job for some reason.

Does seem funny to think of sci fi writers as being particularly concerned about justifying their jobs.

If only we could look into the future to see who is right and which future is better so we could stop wasting our time on pointless doomerism debate. Though I guess that would come with its own problems.

Hey, wait...

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