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HARD_RIGHT

                                                  March 29, 2022

Damon Knight, in "Science Fiction Review" #51:

    "The cluster of 'hard' science and right-wing
    politics which Benford notes has never been           THE_HARD_EQUATIONS
    satisfactorily explained. It was evident in the
    pro- and anti-Vietnam manifestoes published in
    'Galaxy' in the sixties: All the Campbellite writers
    lined up on the hawk side, with one exception,
    Isaac Asimov. It may be that some scientists, and
    many engineers, have an ingrained pragmatic
    approach to problem-solving which makes them seek     LIBERTARIAN_COMPUTERS
    simple and pragmatic solutions to human problems
    (social Darwinism, racism, laissez-faire
    capitalism, imperialism).  Whatever the cause,
    this right-wing bias is a grave defect in the
    works of many hard SF writers because they are
    philosophically shallow. The only thing we learn
    from these works is that Man has a glorious
    destiny to conquer the universe and that if other
    races get in the way it is too bad."






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