Forget Saving the World. Tell Us What 'Better' Looks Like Picture a future that may not be perfect, but is attainable.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Continuing my series of mini-reviews of the essential books in my library, this week we look at a masterpiece that inspired one of my novels.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Alien Politics We shouldn't be worried about AGI or superintelligent AI. We should be actively designing a political system that gives standing to the incomprehensible

AI helps us make sense of unfolding events--even when there is no sense to be found in them. This is dangerous

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Alien Politics We shouldn't be worried about AGI or superintelligent AI. We should be actively designing a political system that gives standing to the incomprehensible

AI helps us make sense of unfolding events--even when there is no sense to be found in them. This is dangerous

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

5 seriously strange ways wildlife is changing inside Chernobyl | BBC Science Focus Magazine Forty years after the reactor explosion, the wildlife around Chernobyl has recovered in strange and unexpected ways.

I remember the first time I gave any degree of thought to what was happening in the Chernobyl exclusion zone was after reading "The Dragon of Pripyat" by @karlschroeder.bsky.social back in 1999. Here's a fascinating non-fiction update. www.sciencefocus.com/nature/5-ser...

My Library: Ecological Imperialism As a partial answer to the perennial question "where do you get your ideas?" I'm showcasing books that have radically shifted my worldview. Here's a major one

I've started a series of reviews of my core library: those books that are perennial sources of surprise, astonishment, and inspiration. My first choice is one of the foundational texts of 'posthumanism'--the idea that humans are not the only game in town.
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

I did do a shared world anthology! Metatropolis, which I edited and featured stores by Jay Lake, @matociquala.bsky.social, @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social, @karlschroeder.bsky.social and myself. It was nominated for a Hugo!

Building the Electric Sheep What could possibly go wrong if the training data for your domestic robot’s AI includes hundreds of science fiction stories about robots?

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We need an alternative software stack that can't be captured by bad state actors and used against us. Is it possible for non-technical users to install and run an alternative to Windows or MacOS? Yes, actually, it is.

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Stop Thinking I mean this in the same sense as I might say 'stop crime,' of course. Thinking (including AI's version) will get us killed. What we need is reasoning.

kschroeder.substack.com/p/stop-think...

Put Your Own Boots On the Moon Using your smartphone, you can drive a rover on the moon in 2028.

Be one of the first 100 civilians to remotely drive a rover on the moon in 2028. Or, give the opportunity to a friend or loved one.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Stealing Worlds From Karl Schroeder, author of Lockstep, comes the near…

@karlschroeder.bsky.social pushes this concept in incredible directions in his book Stealing Worlds www.goodreads.com/book/show/41...

We keep hearing about how AI is being used in business, or personally. But what about for designing and implementing public policy? Here's an example.

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The book "Late Soviet Britain" by Abby Innes is a devastating critique of neoliberal economics. It also has implications about how AI is going to impact how we work and live.
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This week's #FreeFictionFriday pick, "The Baker of Mars" by @karlschroeder.bsky.social follows Myrna, a chef serving settlers colonizing Mars. Relocation seems promising, until a visit with a friend reveals the expansion is quickly draining the planet's aquifers.

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3ipli...

Why Don't the Jedi Use ChatGPT? What Star Wars teaches us about technology, storytelling, and worldbuilding.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Return of the PDA The AI business model is based on user engagement, like social media. Not doomscrolling, but something just as bad: automated rumination. We need a different model.

Now that AI is being driven by the same user-engagement algorithms that enshittified social media, we need an alternative business model. Why not take a lesson from the past, with a new kind of PDA?

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Because they're intelligent, educated people who have agency and (increasingly) a lot of money. I could turn your question around and ask why you think they will be helpless?

Rise of the Middle Powers Who are the adults in the room, in modern politics? And what if those adults want neither a return to American hegemony, nor a multipolar world order?

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Karl Schroeder: The Singularity is an Old Idea. Keep Moving Forward! | Nikola Danaylov Ⓥ 🚀 13 years ago, I sat down with Canadian futurist and science fiction author Karl Schroeder for what turned out to be one of the most impactful interviews of my entire career on Singularity.FM. At th...

www.linkedin.com/posts/nikola...

Quantum Politics Can we ground our divisive political discussions in a reality that neither Left nor Right can argue away?

Last week's post inspired some lively debate. I'm following up with an even more provocative idea--the question of whether quantum mechanics can tell us something about how to improve our political institutions.
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Ride Madly Off In All Directions What's after Postmodernism? Is it Metamodernism? Or, instead of seeking new ways to ground authenticity and authority, can we build a society that doesn't need them?

While good people debate, bad people act. We're all concerned with finding the ground for a new social contract; but we're out of time to do that. Why not abandon that effort, and start building a pluralistic society based on the complete lack of common ground...?
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Wow, thanks! I love this

Because the world is a bad place right now and I'm in a bad headspace, here are 5 copies of @karlschroeder.bsky.social 's _Stealing Worlds_.

#KindleBookGiveAway

Pivot Season The dangers of writing very-near-future science fiction; or, What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I took the summer off to write. Amazingly, I accomplished everything I planned for, including preparing a new short story collection for publication, and finishing the novel I've been promising. I'm back online now and resuming my newsletter, Unapocalyptic.
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Bought! A theme I'm working towards in my Substack, but haven't yet felt confident to take on. Also relevant to the new novel, which is about the future of the Arctic and Indigenous self-governance.

About On Spec / Contact Us In 1989, a small group of Edmonton writers formed The Copper Pig Writers Society in order to fill a niche in Canada–a paying market for English SF. SF with a uniquely Canadian Perspective. Of…

Let’s talk about an Edmonton science fiction institution -- On Spec, Canada’s most prominent English-language science fiction magazine.

onspec.ca/about-on-spec

Can't do that if Tor still holds the audiobook rights. I'll have to review my contract. Rolling my own audiobook would also be A) time-consuming, or B) money-consuming. I have neither the time nor the money to do it right now.

Frankly, I chose Substack because I was unable to import my mailing list to any of the alternatives. And I've heard Substack's reputation, but Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie trust it.

I'm interested in Ghost but have no time to explore it right now.

I am on Facebook but don't post.

I've paused my Substack newsletter for the summer so I can focus on writing fiction. Got a novel to finish.