m. c. de marco: To invent new life and new civilizations...

The Fix has an epilogue to “The End of Science Fiction” by Nader Elhefnawy, in which he makes some interesting connections between economics and scientific progress (the mother of science fictional content):

The “end of science” to which I referred is connected with this, certainly at its technological end. As economist Joseph Schumpeter (one of the earliest proponents of the long cycle theory) wrote, “an apparent absence of novel propositions of the first magnitude [is] part of the familiar pattern of any depression.” (After all, in depressed times, new things might well be invented in an attempt to turn things around, but who’s going to put up the money to get them out there and up and running? That usually waits for when things get better.)

He also sees hope that the lack of a real Singularity will exorcise that demon from sci-fi, and that technological change may revitalize the publishing industry. If all else fails, the undead genre may shamble on in alternate history and paranormal romance, of all things.