Tuesday, June 20, 2006

My Ottawa Citizen piece is online

My op-ed piece for The Ottawa Citizen about space colonization is now online here.

 


8 Comments:

At June 20, 2006 3:37 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

As far as I know, there is no opposing piece, Lou. "Op-Ed" means physically located opposite to the editorial (on the facing page), not opposite in opinion to the paper's own editorial. :)

 
At June 20, 2006 3:40 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

By the way, I managed to find one copy of the physical newpaper here in Toronto. It's way more impressive in print: 3/4 of a page (the top 3/4), with a great illustration, pull quotes, etc.

 
At June 20, 2006 7:46 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

As usual, RJS, you have made the points for and against the move to space. One didn't need an opposing view. Even though it would be good to the survival of the Human Species, chances are that most of them have disappeared due to the same things which will cause our demise.
It seems so pessimistic tho. I like the idea of my great grandchildren being able to go to distant planets, and continue human life in those places.

Bek

 
At June 20, 2006 11:57 PM , Blogger Scott said...

Thought-provoking piece.

I especially liked the inclusion of the Dylan Thomas 'rage, rage against the dying of the light...' quote.

I've always found that quote to be so intensely personal; your use of it made me, for the first time, think of it in the context of humanity as a whole. We owe it ourselves to keep on fighting, yes, but we as a species also owe it everybody else to ensure that we do what we have to do.

A nice blend of scientific, literary and pragmatic concepts. Let's hope we see more! (Maybe NY TIMES will come calling next?!?)

 
At June 20, 2006 11:59 PM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

Thanks, Scott! As I was writing the piece, the notion of quoting both Doctor Who and Dylan Thomas in the same article tickled my fancy. :)

 
At June 21, 2006 11:03 AM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

Hi, Michael, you Hugo-nominee, you! :)

On your first point, true -- but not in any recognizable form. Cassandra was the last human, remember, and she looked like a trampoline. :)

On your second point, well, here's a little snippet from Rollback, my next novel:

"If a creator does exist, or if a race becomes such a creator itself, that immediately raises the moral question of what, if any, accountability or obligation the creations have to that creator -- and the flipside, and the part that I think we don't spend nearly enough time debating, which is what if any accountability or obligation our possible creator has to us."

 
At June 24, 2006 10:30 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, this is a great read, Rob. I've shared it with some classmates here at Odyssey, and I think you had something important to say while having fun saying it. We are looking forward to your arrival here in two weeks!

Adria

 
At June 24, 2006 10:33 AM , Blogger RobertJSawyer said...

Looking forward to it, Adria! Now -- get back to writing! :)

 

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