The foundation series was set so far in the future that the scientist of the time could not trace the origins to mankind back to Earth and the people were pretty much the same as people today.

The blessing and the curse of a technological society is that there is no Darwinian pressure for the species to evolve.

The closest thing in fiction in Science Fiction in movies and TV to what Shimrod was talking about is in the Star Trek vision of the future. Where, with a few glaring exceptions, basically every being that joins Star Fleet gets along with all of the others. The show was designed in the 60's during the cold war and Viet Nam to give a positive vision for the future.

Shimrod, Carol and I recently watched the special features for the Avatar. James Cameron makes no bones at all about wanting it to be a message about today's culture and the pitfalls of technology. That message of Avatar is worth repeating and presenting in such a beautiful and novel way.


Almost all good science fiction is an exaggerated mirror or projected trends illustrating some disturbing aspect of current culture and technology. "The Foundation Trilogy" was about preserving culture during the collapse of an empire. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) Was about isolation in spite of or even because of technology. As I mentioned, Star Trek was a reaction to the Cold war. The lessons of "Soylent Green" and "Dr. Strangelove" are clear enough.