James Webb Space Telescope in 2018!
United States
Utah
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Hey any sci fi geeks out there, I don't know if this forum is the right place to ask this, but I'm looking for sci fi novels that explore the implications of society possessing machines that can make anything you want at zero or low cost - Santa Claus machines, Star Trek replicators, a full realization of the RepRap project, stuff like that.
What would society be like if you didn't have to worry about working just to buy necessities and could make any object you wanted?
Have any authors tacked this question?
What do you think the implications would be?
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CHAPEL
United States
Round Rock
Texas
"that's a smith and wesson, and you've had your six"
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Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson might fit the bill.
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James Webb Space Telescope in 2018!
United States
Utah
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MWChapel wrote: Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson might fit the bill.
Excellent, thanks. I actually happen to be sitting here at a library computer at the moment, hoping someone would post some books I could check out before I leave...
:)
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Lynette
United States
Richland
Washington
Yep, I am a girl Scientist. Come for the breasts; Stay for the brains!
For as long as I shall live I will testify to love; I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough.
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You should post your question in Chit Chat too... larger audience.
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Destiny's got her hand way, way up in their puppets! It's an unpleasant tingling! The deepest of wriggles!
United States
Wichita
Kansas
But my greatest power is this: When Destiny speaks, she speaks to me. She says hi, by the way.
Oh! And I've been killing the bees!
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A For Anything, by Damon Knight.
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The series written by Iain Banks set in "The Culture" may well be the best bet. Brilliant stuff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture
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Moshe Callen
Israel
Jerusalem
ἄνδρα μοι ἔννεπε, μοῦσα, πολύτροπον, ὃς μάλα πολλὰ/ πλάγχθη, ἐπεὶ Τροίης ἱερὸν πτολίεθρον ἔπερσεν./...
μῆνιν ἄειδε θεὰ Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος/ οὐλομένην, ἣ μυρί᾽ Ἀχαιοῖς ἄλγε᾽ ἔθηκε,/...
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George O.Smith did it at the end of the Venus Equilateral series of stories.
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James Webb Space Telescope in 2018!
United States
Utah
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DWTripp wrote:
Any particular books in the Culture universe?
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James Webb Space Telescope in 2018!
United States
Utah
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Thanks for all the books so far. I'm checking these out right now...
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tesuji wrote: DWTripp wrote: Any particular books in the Culture universe?
Player of Games is one of the best, but all are worth reading.
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Billy McBoatface
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
KGS is the #1 web site for playing go over the internet. Visit now!
Yes, I really am that awesome.
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I know a good one! "The Dwindling Sphere" by Willard Hawkins. It's available for free on the net - see http://doctord.dyndns.org/Stories/Hawkins.htm
The short story covers the implications of these machines briefly; the main issue is that when a machine makes something, a lot of the mass that went *into* the machine disappears.
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CHAPEL
United States
Round Rock
Texas
"that's a smith and wesson, and you've had your six"
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I also read a series of books a while back about a alien civ's self replicating Von Neumann machines evolving into a new mechanical species right in our solar system(The moon Titan) called "Code of the Lifemaker" by James p. Hogan. It's an interesting look at the technology.
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Billy McBoatface
United States
Lexington
Massachusetts
KGS is the #1 web site for playing go over the internet. Visit now!
Yes, I really am that awesome.
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MWChapel wrote: I also read a series of books a while back about a alien civ's self replicating Von Neumann machines evolving into a new mechanical species right in our solar system(The moon Titan) called "Code of the Lifemaker" by James p. Hogan. It's an interesting look at the technology. Wow, I read "Code..." years ago, when I was in High School. It's one of those sci-fi novels that, while pretty good, I wouldn't have expected anybody else to have read. I thought it was silly but neat.
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Richard S
United States
Rensselaer
New York
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Charles Stross is the author that comes to mind. See, for example, Singularity Sky, Iron Sunrise, Glasshouse, etc.
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If it falls on me and pins me underneath it, does that still count as seizing the day?
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
I think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.
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mistermarino wrote: A For Anything, by Damon Knight.
I think I read that back in high school in the early '70s. When I read the question I immediately thought of a certain short story (the name escapes me) in a collection I thought was edited Damon Knight. This one might be it.
In the story people had all kinds of stuff manufactured for them, and they had to try hard to use it up and wear it out. The more stuff they wore out, the more time they got to spend at the office. The hero of the story only went to work on Mondays, but his fathier-in-law went either two or three days a week.
The difficulty in the story was to be able to use up all the stuff that the machines could manufacture. There was a recurring phrase: "Because a pipeline has two ends" that I found very interesting.
Anyway, the hero solves the problem of people not using up all the stuff that was made for them by having their personal robots do much of the work by wearing/using the items.
I hope the story/collection named above is the one you want.
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If it falls on me and pins me underneath it, does that still count as seizing the day?
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
I think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.
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wmshub wrote: MWChapel wrote: I also read a series of books a while back about a alien civ's self replicating Von Neumann machines evolving into a new mechanical species right in our solar system(The moon Titan) called "Code of the Lifemaker" by James p. Hogan. It's an interesting look at the technology. Wow, I read "Code..." years ago, when I was in High School. It's one of those sci-fi novels that, while pretty good, I wouldn't have expected anybody else to have read. I thought it was silly but neat.
I, too, read Code of the Lifemaker when it first came out, and I thought the book was a lot of fun. (I think I still have my autographed copy.) However, the subject of that book is not what the OP is looking for. I recommend he read it after he's finished this project, though.
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William Boykin
United States
Texas
For BJ.....
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Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman. But its less about the nano replication than it is about....other things.
Darilian
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Jeff Chunko
United States
Columbus
Ohio
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This is a fairly common SF trope. Are you more interest in post scarcity novels or SF that deals with the transition from traditional economics?
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Neil Carr
United States
Barre
Vermont
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I'd definitely like to read some stories about the messy transition society would have if we had replicators.
From reading the reviews of A for Anything that's not the kind of story I'd like to read. I'd like to read a Foundation style treatment where the plot isn't confined to a particular protagonist, who has to discover something, and then rush to do something before all is lost.
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James Webb Space Telescope in 2018!
United States
Utah
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Jeff Chunko wrote:
This is a fairly common SF trope. Are you more interest in post scarcity novels or SF that deals with the transition from traditional economics?
Both.
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Tim Thorp
United States
Granite Falls
Washington
"Come on! Come on! Come and get it, baby! Come on! I don't got all day! Come on! Come on! Come on you bastard! Come on, you too! Oh, you want some of this? "
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claymore_57 wrote: mistermarino wrote: A For Anything, by Damon Knight. I think I read that back in high school in the early '70s. When I read the question I immediately thought of a certain short story (the name escapes me) in a collection I thought was edited Damon Knight. This one might be it. In the story people had all kinds of stuff manufactured for them, and they had to try hard to use it up and wear it out. The more stuff they wore out, the more time they got to spend at the office. The hero of the story only went to work on Mondays, but his fathier-in-law went either two or three days a week. The difficulty in the story was to be able to use up all the stuff that the machines could manufacture. There was a recurring phrase: "Because a pipeline has two ends" that I found very interesting. Anyway, the hero solves the problem of people not using up all the stuff that was made for them by having their personal robots do much of the work by wearing/using the items. I hope the story/collection named above is the one you want.
The story you are referring to is "The Midas Plague", by Frederik Pohl. Reprinted in the story collection "The Midas World."
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David desJardins
United States
Burlingame
California
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Maybe buy a blank composition book at a stationery store? Because it's not clear anything resembling a civilization can continue to exist in such a world. When a Columbine student can take a hydrogen bomb to school instead of a few guns.
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Not the same quality as Bainks, but Michael Moorcock's series "The Dancers at the End of Time" fits the bill.
Or HG Wells "The Time Machine", for another twist on a world without scarcity 
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David desJardins
United States
Burlingame
California
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wmshub wrote:
The little boy looked with awe at the scene, and then turned his face upward, demanding, "What are we going to do when this hole gets so big that it takes up the whole world?"
We laughed, but I could sympathize with the question. Man is such a puny creature that it is difficult for him to realize what an infinitesimal thing on the Earth's surface is a cavity, which to him appears enormous. The relationship, I should say, is about the same as a pinprick to a ball which a child can toss in the air.
Very interesting. You'd almost think he was writing about global warming. Except that he (like early global warming theorists) vastly underestimated human society's capacity to massively expand its consumption so that what would have seemed to take hundreds or thousands of years can occur in just decades.
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If it falls on me and pins me underneath it, does that still count as seizing the day?
United States
Kansas City
Missouri
I think that all right-thinking people in this country are sick and tired of being told that ordinary, decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am.
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berserkley wrote: claymore_57 wrote: mistermarino wrote: A For Anything, by Damon Knight. I think I read that back in high school in the early '70s. When I read the question I immediately thought of a certain short story (the name escapes me) in a collection I thought was edited Damon Knight. This one might be it. In the story people had all kinds of stuff manufactured for them, and they had to try hard to use it up and wear it out. The more stuff they wore out, the more time they got to spend at the office. The hero of the story only went to work on Mondays, but his fathier-in-law went either two or three days a week. The difficulty in the story was to be able to use up all the stuff that the machines could manufacture. There was a recurring phrase: "Because a pipeline has two ends" that I found very interesting. Anyway, the hero solves the problem of people not using up all the stuff that was made for them by having their personal robots do much of the work by wearing/using the items. I hope the story/collection named above is the one you want. The story you are referring to is "The Midas Plague", by Frederik Pohl. Reprinted in the story collection "The Midas World."
Thanks for clearing that up. It was so long since I'd read the story (30+ years) that I couldn't remember where I found it.
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