Comments on: Charlie Stross’ 21st Century crystal ball http://futurismic.com/2009/03/02/charlie-stross-21st-century-crystal-ball/ Presenting the fact and fiction of tomorrow since 2001 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 22:03:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Tom James http://futurismic.com/2009/03/02/charlie-stross-21st-century-crystal-ball/comment-page-1/#comment-20267 Tom James Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:16:30 +0000 http://futurismic.com/?p=6342#comment-20267 Stross definitely has more than one idea. So I'd he wasn't a hedgehog. And as I say <a href="http://futurismic.com/2009/03/02/why-pundits-always-get-it-wrong/#comment-20264" rel="nofollow">here</a> Stross is a <i>writer</a>; a bard or a storyteller. Stross makes stuff up to explore subtle issues of human nature and technological ideas. He tells lies to tell us truths about being human. What he <i>does not</i> do is claim to be an "expert" on anything. He doesn't make false claims of superior deductive reasoning or inside knowledge (I'd take the FAQ of the 21st Century bit as a jobbing SF writer thinking out loud and expressing his opinions in a straightforward manner). The danger arises when you start taking pundits TV/newspaper-hedgehog-pundits too seriously and imagining they're anything more than entertaining court jesters. Stross definitely has more than one idea. So I’d he wasn’t a hedgehog.

And as I say here Stross is a writer; a bard or a storyteller.

Stross makes stuff up to explore subtle issues of human nature and technological ideas. He tells lies to tell us truths about being human.

What he does not do is claim to be an “expert” on anything. He doesn’t make false claims of superior deductive reasoning or inside knowledge (I’d take the FAQ of the 21st Century bit as a jobbing SF writer thinking out loud and expressing his opinions in a straightforward manner).

The danger arises when you start taking pundits TV/newspaper-hedgehog-pundits too seriously and imagining they’re anything more than entertaining court jesters.

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