Re: the upload meme in sf - first use?

From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Thu Jul 11 2002 - 20:08:35 MDT


At 09:10 AM 7/11/02 -0400, Harvey wrote:

>Sorry, but this is an old sci-fi theme.

I'm sure it is, but it's hard to find good examples prior to the last two
decades. Most of the stuff you list isn't even close.

>1909. E.M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" The entire world is run by
>machines and humans are kept in little hexagon cells. They only
>communicate via through the machine which lets them see and hear each
>other but not touch.

So? Nothing at all to doing with uploading in Forster. Good guess at a
cocooned on-line society, though.

>1966-1969. This was a common theme in the original Star Trek episodes.

If it's in the intensely derivative and dumbed-down ST in the '60s, it must
be everywhere in ASTOUNDING or other sf zines in the 30s and 40s.

>1968. The move "Bladerunner" was based on Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids
>Dream of Electric Sheep."

Erm, no. 1982.

>It describes replicants who are duplicated
>copies of humans including memories and personalities.

Really? I think it's far more likely that their memories were composite
constructs, and fragile with it.

Damien Broderick



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:15:21 MST