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SUMMARY:Foresight and Fiction - Robert J Sawyer\, Author
DTSTART:20130201T173000Z
DTEND:20130201T183000Z
UID:TALK39996@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Janet Gibson
DESCRIPTION:Abstract\n\nScience fiction is often termed a literature of pr
 ediction\, but is it really\, and\, if so\, how does it accomplish that? H
 ugo Award-winning science-fiction novelist Robert J. Sawyer explores the s
 peculative mindset\, the role science fiction plays in the intellectual la
 ndscape\, and how science-fictional thinking about the future can be appli
 ed to business and government. Along the way\, he shows how _2001: A Space
  Odyssey_ inspired an entire generation of computer scientists\, looks at 
 why _Star Trek_ sets so much of our research agenda\, and examines the not
 ion of the technological singularity. He points out some of science fictio
 n's greatest predictive successes\, and he also spotlights where the scien
 ce-fictional vision has come up short and explains the foresight lessons t
 o be learned from those failures. \n\nBiography\n\nRobert J. Sawyer’s be
 stselling science-fiction novels are known for “marshaling a daunting qu
 antity of fact and theory from across scientific disciplines” (_National
  Post_) to produce “page after page of bold scientific extrapolation” 
 (_The New York Times_). _New Scientist_ calls his work “scientifically p
 lausible\, fictionally intriguing\, and ethically important\,” and artif
 icial-intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky says\, “Lately\, I’ve been in
 spired by the work of Robert J. Sawyer.” The TV series _FlashForward_ wa
 s based on his novel of the same name.\n\nRob is one of only eight people 
 in history to have won all three of the science-fiction field’s top awar
 ds for best novel of the year: the Hugo (which he won for _Hominids_)\, th
 e Nebula (which he won for _The Terminal Experiment_)\, and the John W. Ca
 mpbell Memorial Award (which he won for _Mindscan_). According to the Amer
 ican science-fiction trade journal _Locus_\, he is the #1 all-time worldwi
 de leader in number of award wins as a science-fiction or fantasy novelist
 . His latest novel is _Triggers_ (published by Orion/Victor Gollancz).\n\n
 Rob has published in both of the world’s leading scientific journals\, _
 Science _(guest editorial) and _Nature_ (fiction)\, and he is a frequent g
 uest on science topics on BBC Radio and _Monocle 24_. He has done consulti
 ng for Canada’s Department of Justice (on what laws Canada should adopt 
 related to the privacy of genetic information) and for major corporations 
 including Motorola\, Lockheed Martin\, Sanofi-Aventis\, and CA (Computer A
 ssociates)\, and he’s previously spoken all over the world\, including a
 t the Library of Congress and the Googleplex (the international headquarte
 rs of Google).  In 2007\, he participated in the invitation-only workshop 
 The Future of Intelligence in the Cosmos at the NASA Ames Research Center.
  In 2010 and again in 2012\, he was the only science-fiction writer invite
 d to speak at the SETI Institute's first two SETIcon conferences on the se
 arch for extraterrestrial intelligence.  In 2011\, he became an invited co
 ntributor to the 100 Year Starship initiative\, sponsored by the US Defens
 e Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).\n\nRob hosts the skeptical TV
  series _Supernatural Investigator_ for Canada’s Vision TV. He is past p
 resident of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and a membe
 r of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada\, and he holds an honorary d
 octorate from Laurentian University in Sudbury\, Ontario. He lives in Toro
 nto. Visit his website at http://sfwriter.com.\n\n\n
LOCATION:LMH\, Lady Mitchell Hall
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