Sci-Fi Odyssey: A Tour Through the Great Works of Speculative Fiction – Margaret Atwood

Come join David White for the next installment of a salon series dedicated to exploring the themes, ideas, and world-building of science fiction. We will be exploring the world of Oryx and Crake and discussing the consequences of a bioengineering disaster, socioeconomic effects of widespread genetic engineering, and how the tension between humanities and technology grow as scientific progress increases.  

Oryx and Crake is a critically acclaimed speculative fiction work exploring the consequences of widespread genetic engineering. The work is focused on a world rife with inequality and walled compounds where corporations provide a variety of technological solutions from improving aging to providing food. The retrospective nature of the novel focuses on how the world came to an apocalypse.  We will discuss the far-reaching consequences of genetic engineering, the almost inherent inequality that bioengineering can produce, the dangers of bio-weaponry, and the relevance of humanities in the face of a technology that changes what it means to be human.

We will explore recent advances in genetic technology in our world and rational responses to an catastrophic event in modern society. Other potential topics include the dangers of powerful tools with decreasing barriers to entry, the game “Extinctathon”, subversive content on the internet, and worries about overpopulation/environmental disasters

Suggested Reading:

Oryx and Crake – Margaret Atwood