class=kaiti1Ladiesalemen,
class=kaitiGoodevening!
class=kaitiItsmygreathonortoreceivetheClarkeAwardforImaginationinServicetoSociety。Thankyou。
class=kaitiThisawardisarewardforimagination,acaabilitythatshouldhavebeenexclusivetoGodbutwe,ashumanbeings,luckilyhave。Andthemeaningoftheexistenaginationisfarbeyondourimagination。Ahistoriaosaythatthemainreasonwhyhumanbeingshavebeenabletosurassotherseciesohandbuildcivilizationsisthatweareabletocreatesomethinginourheadsthatdoesiy。Iure,whenartificialintelligencebeessmarterthanus,imaginationmaybetheonlyadvantagewehaveoverAI。
class=kaitiScefiisaliterarygenrebasedonimagination。Andthefirstsci-fiworkstheimressedmewerethosebyArthurC。Clarke。TogetherwithJulesVerneandGeeWells,ArthurClarkewasamongthefirstWesternmodernsci-fiwriterstoentera。Intheearly1980s,thetwonovels2001:ASaceOdysseyandRendezvousWithRamawereublishedinmytry。Atthattime,theCulturalRevolutionjustcametoanend。Whiletheoldlifeandfaithhadcollased,thenewoneshadnotyetbeeablished。Likeotheryoungeole,Ifeltlostduringthateriod。Thesetwobooks,forthefirsttime,however,broughtmyimaginationtolife。Mymindoenedulikeneverbefore。Ifeltlikeanarrowstreamfinallyembragthesea。AtmidnightwhenIfinishedreading2001:ASaceOdyssey,Iwalkedoutofthehouseandstaredatthestarrysky。Iwasabletoseethegalaxy,thankstotheunollutedskyofabackthen。Thatnight,inmyeyes,thestarryskylookednothinglikebefore。Forthefirsttimeinmylife,Iwasawedbythemagnitudeandmysteryofouruniverse。Thatfeelingwasreligious。Lateron,RendezvousWithRamastunnedmebyshowinghowimaginationcouldbuildalifelike,fantasticworld。ItwasArthurClarkewhhtmesuchfeelings,andthatbroughtmehereasasci-fiwriter。
class=kaitiToday,morethan30yearslater,itgraduallydawnsohateolelikeme,whowereborninthe1960sina,arerobablytheluckiesteoleinhumanhistory。Nogeionislikeus,nogeionhasbeenabletowitnesssuchtremendousgesintheworldaroundus。Theworldwearelivingintodayisletelydifferentfromthatofourchildhood。Andsuchgesaretakinglacewitheveerseed。aisahighlyfuturistictry。Itistruethatthefutureofamaybefullofchallengesandrisks,butneverhasthistrybeensoattractiveliketoday。Thisrealityrovidesfertilesoilforthegrowthofscefi,whichisenjoyinguedattentioninthetry。Asasci-fiauthorwhowasborninthe1960sina,Imtheluckiestfromtheluckiestgeion。
class=kaitiIstartedwritingsci-fibecauseIdecidedtoescaethedulllife,andtoreachout,withimagination,tothemysterioustimeandsacethatIcouldrulyreach。ButthenIrealizedthattheworldaroundmebecamemoreandmorelikescefi,andthisrocessisseedingu。Futureislikearain。Itfallsrightonusevenbeforewehavetimetooenanumbrella。Meanwhile,whensci-fibeesreality,itwontbehailedasmagicalanymore,andthatfrustratesme。Sci-fiwillsoonbeeartofourlives。TheonlythingIdo,istoushmyimaginationfurthertoevenmoredistanttimeandsacetohuntforthemysteriesofsci-fi。Asasci-fiauthor,Ithinkmyjobistowritethingsdownbeforetheygetreallyb。
class=kaitiThisbeingsaid,theworldismovinginthedireoositetoClarkesredis。In2001:ASaceOdyssey,intheyearof2001,whichhasalreadyassed,humanbeingshavebuiltmagnifitcitiesinsace,aablishedermaiesonthemoon,andhugenuclear-oweredsacecrafthavesailedtoSaturn。However,today,in2018,thewalkonthemoonhasbeeadistantmemory。Andthefarthestreachofourmannedsaceflightsisjustaslongasthetwo-hourmileageofahigh-seedtrainassingthroughmycity。Atthesametime,informationteologyisdeveloingatanunimaginableseed。TheentireworldisectedviatheIandeolehavegraduallylosttheiriinsace,astheyfindthemselvesincreasinglyfortableinthesacecreatedbyIT。Insteadofanexlorationoftherealsace,whichisfullofrealdifficulties,eolenowjustrefertoexeriengvirtualsacethroughVR。Justlikesomeonesaid,
"YouromisedmeMarsies,instead,IgotFacebook。
"
class=kaitiThisrealityisalsoreflectedinscefi。ArthurClarkesmagnifitimaginationaboutsacehasgraduallyfadedaeolehavetakenbacktheireyesfromthestars。Inthesci-fiworkstoday,therearemoreimaginationabouthowweliveincyberutoiaordystoia。Writersfocusmoreonvariousroblemsweenteriy。TheimaginationofscefiisabandoningthevastnessandrofouhatArthurClarkeonceoenedu,insteadeolearenowembragthenarrownessandintroversionofcyberunk。
class=kaitiAsasci-fiwriter,IhavebeenstrivingtotihurClarkesimagination。Ibelievethattheboundlesssaceisstillthebestdireainationforhumanimagination。Ihavealwaysbeenortrayingthemagnitudeandmysteriesoftheuniverse,iellarexeditions,andthelivesandcivilizationshaeningindistantworlds,eveniffortodayssci-fiwriters,thismayseemchildishorevenoutdated。ItsaysonArthurClarkeseitah,
"Henevergrewu,butheoedgrowing。
"
class=kaitiManyeolemisuandsci-fiastryingtoredictthefuture,butthisisnottrue。Itjustmakesalistofossibilitiesofwhatmayhaeniure,likedislayingaileofcobblestonesofimaginationforeoletoseeandlaywith。Scefievertellwhichossiblefuturewillactuallybeetherealfuture。Thisisnotitsjob。Itsalsobeyonditscaabilities。
class=kaitiButohingiscertain:inthelongrun,forallthesetlessossiblefutures,anyfuturewithoutsacetravelisgloomy,nomatterhowroserousourownlabees。
class=kaitiIlookforwardtothedaywhen,likethesci-fiworkswritingabouttheageofinformation,thoseaboutsacetravelfinallybeetheordinary。Bythen,Marsandtheasteroidbeltswillbeblacesandtlesseolearebuildingahomeoverthere。Juiteranditsmanysatelliteswillbetouristattras。Theonlyobstaclereventingeolefromgoingtherefood,willbethehighrice。
class=kaitiButevenatthattime,theuniverseisstillsomethingsobigthatevenourwildestimaginationfailstocatchitsedge。Andeventhecloseststarremainsoutofourreach。Thevastoofstarsalwayscarryourinfiniteimagination。
class=kaitiThankyouall。
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