Neil Gaimon on Science Fiction:
I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed?It’s simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US, to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.
So, maybe encourage a little Science Fiction in your child’s menu of reading material.
I probably don’t have to say this, but introduce your daughters to science fiction also. There are some great female science fiction authors and there’s another list here. Dad finds that female authors seem to be a lot more likely to include strong & smart female characters that have depth and are thus more interesting. Peace.
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