Strange and Happy

Happy? You might ask. What is there to be happy about? The stock market is in the crapper. The planet itself may be going to hell. So why am I bullish on the future?

Well, in general I’m a pretty positive guy. I really, really think things will work out. Some of today’s writing is so dark that it makes me want to slit my wrists and slip into a warm tub. It might be technically excellent, and the characters may be fully rendered and real, but man oh man, it’s not what I want to read.

So take a look at the new tagline on this site: Strange and Happy. Consider this my new personal emblem, and a challenge to not only writers everywhere, but to the world in general.

(Oh boy, Stoddard has gone off the deep end, hasn’t he? you’re probably thinking.)

But think about it. The world is changing at an increasingly rapid pace. Just in the last few weeks, I’ve read about active corneal overlays for augmented reality and Russian chatbots good enough to pass simple Turing tests (and immediately being used for sex chat.) Where we live is getting strange. But this doesn’t mean it’s a dystopia, or that we’ll be bowing to evil corporate overlords whose only mission statement is to rape the planet, or that we’ll have mind control installed against our will, or that we’ll all die because of climate change or slowing economic growth or whatever the cause du jour is. So why can’t we be strange–and happy?

Because I think that is the common thread. Humans will always be happy. And sad. And angry. And scheming. And power-mad. And altruistic. And loving. And kind. Mix these ingredients with strange new capabilities, and you still end up with humans in the end. And I have to think that what we consider “good” and “true” will win out. Even if it’s a crooked and cynical road to get there.

I have to believe that we won’t wipe ourselves out entirely, or change our minds and form so radically that we become fundamentally nonhuman in a homogeneous manner. Because there will always be holdouts. There will always be throwbacks. There will always be humans.

If this is golden, so be it. That’s perfectly fine. If you can read Winning Mars and call it golden, or Softly Shining in the Forbidden Dark, or Panacea, or The Elephant Ironclads and do the same, that’s fine. I’ll take that mantle. Because I think it’s time for a change.

I think it’s time to be strange . . . and happy.

February 9th, 2008 / 4 Comments »