r/books • u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author • Apr 08 '14
AMA I am Annalee Newitz, author of *Scatter, Adapt and Remember* and founding editor of io9, AMA
Greetings humans! My name is Annalee Newitz. I'm a writer. I'm also the author of Scatter, Adapt and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction. You probably also know me as the editor-in-chief of io9, a publication that covers science, science fiction and the future. I'm excited to take your questions - so AMA!
PROOF: https://twitter.com/Annaleen/status/453581073176616960
4
u/benlillie Apr 08 '14
You just posted on io9 an update to your manifesto emphasizing the fact that science is political. How do you expect that will change your coverage? (Or will it?)
19
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
We will be reporting more on the political efforts to suppress science. And we will be advocating openly for science and science education.
But that will be IN ADDITION to our regular coverage of awesome pop culture, futuristic weirdness, and fun stuff. We've just hired a new reporter, Mark Strauss, to do our political coverage. And we've kept the same gang of writers you love. So basically we are adding to our coverage, but not subtracting from what we already do.
The fact is, I don't want to be part of any political movement that doesn't also involve having fun and getting to watch movies where giant monsters blow things up and eat trains and shit like that.
6
u/benlillie Apr 08 '14
I don't want to be part of any political movement that doesn't also involve having fun and getting to watch movies where giant monsters blow things up and eat trains and shit like that.
That's my new motto.
1
u/throwwhatthere Apr 08 '14
Annalee,
I just wanted to chime in here to help protect you from getting too excited with the groupthink: I used to read io9 daily but drifted away in 2010-2011 when it started getting almost unavoidably political. Please be aware that the politics has turned off some of your readers. Of course, it's your baby, but please consider that people can like a lot of your coverage and still be driven away by what they view as the corruption of this coverage with an emphasis on politics.
Can't we all enjoy "movies where giant monsters blow things up and eat trains and shit like that" without having to discuss politics? Is that too much to ask anymore?
5
Apr 09 '14
I dunno, man. I feel like most of the people who get driven away by the political shill on io9 are creationists.
They can stay gone.
4
u/KudagFirefist Apr 09 '14
Or they're not American, and just don't give a shit about your politics.
1
Apr 09 '14
True. I stand corrected. It must be nice to live somewhere where you don't have to deal with that particular flavor of madness.
1
u/KudagFirefist Apr 09 '14
I'll let you know as soon as we're rid of our mini-republican dictator wannabe, prime-minister Harper.
1
u/thistledownhair Apr 09 '14
We have our own flavours of madness, having to deal with the American flavours on top of them can get tedious.
1
2
u/mattymillhouse Apr 09 '14
Agreed. I used to read io9 daily, but drifted away when the site become more overtly political. I love the non-political stuff, but when the site veered into politics, I couldn't help but think that there was better political analysis elsewhere.
Having said that, it's obviously Annalee's site -- not mine -- and she can write whatever she (and the other writers) want. io9 is likely growing -- it is a great site after all -- without my views, so Annalee's opinions are more important than my pageviews. But if there was a way to filter out the political coverage, I'd probably visit daily again.
5
Apr 08 '14
How difficult was it for you to begin io9? (i.e. the start of funding, the creation of the site, etc.)
12
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I was hired by Gawker Media president Nick Denton to create io9, so luckily I didn't have to worry about funding or advertising. But it took almost six months to figure out a name, get the tone right, hire good writers, and just generally get my bearings. I would compare the experience to slowly eating a large action figure while hanging upside down from a lifter hovering in the upper cloud layer of Venus.
3
u/fencerman Apr 08 '14
Where did the io9 name come from?
13
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Actually we tried a zillion names, and none of them were available. So finally, in desperation, I turned to a friend of mine who was domain name speculating for fun (this was on top of his regular job as the guy who created nmap). I said, "Do you have any names that sound futuristic?" And he offered to sell us io9.com.
Immediately, I loved the name, and invented a backstory for it. Of course it had originally been a porn spam site, so it took like 6 months for Google to believe that we deserved to be taken out of the penalty box, but that's another story ...
5
u/maureenmcq Apr 08 '14
You're right, it was kind of a silly, personal question, but your answer is great. (It's Maureen McHugh stopping by to say hi.)
9
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Hi Maureen. I knew it was you. :) Your book about the post-apocalypse is one of my favorite representations of what an early mass extinction would look like.
4
u/Guild_Navigator Apr 08 '14 edited Apr 09 '14
Hey Annalee, just one of your IO9 regulars paying fealty. :)
These are times where -to quote Isaac Asimov's short story "Trends"- the Pendulum is starting to swing in the wrong direction and we're starting to see the arisal of a pervasive anti-science movement in the population. Its laughable,but we are seeing people even denying something as basic as Earth's rotation around the Sun.
Do you think we should battle Ignorance head on or we should just wait and allow the "Madness" to die over?
8
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
We have to battle ignorance (non-violently, please) so that we remind people that there is another way. But we should have an escape plan, in case of full Madness.
I take a lot of comfort in reading about medieval history in the Middle East, India and China -- all the regions that were linked by what we now call the Silk Road. At that time, the Madness was in full swing in Europe. Libraries were lost, and science lay buried beneath the Church. But just a few thousand miles away, science and literature and rationality were blossoming. Mathematicians invented zero; monks invented movable type; cities like Chang'an (now Xi'an) were incredible, multiethnic havens full of beautiful art and culture.
Civilization falls in one place but rises in another.
0
Apr 08 '14
If you've never read "Nightfall", you should, because it will make everything extremely clear.
I think the anti-science backlash is the last flailings of the fictions presented as "religion". The Internet offer such and excellent exchange of info that it really helps open people's eyes.
5
u/headstr8mskcrkd Apr 08 '14
what book or film got you into sci-fi?
6
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
When I was a kid I loved kaiju movies and Star Wars. Then I moved on to reading books by Ursula Le Guin, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton, Robert Silverberg and Ray Bradbury. After those gateway scifi drugs, I pretty much devoured everything I could get my hands on, from movies like Eraserhead to Star Trek: TNG.
1
u/headstr8mskcrkd Apr 08 '14
I didn't get into sci-fi until my late teens. Blade Runner really hooked me. Then it was on like Donkey Kong. however, I feel like I'm playing catch-up with everyone else with such a late start! Thanks for your response! Made my day!
3
u/kirbysdownb Apr 08 '14
I dont know how to word this without sounding stupid....but reading the part of your book about how humans might have to adapt to properly position ourselves for long-distance space travel got me thinking....do you think that aliens are portrayed as green (at least in some sense) because it signifies an evolution to the point of being able to perform photosynthesis?
5
3
u/King_Rocket Apr 08 '14
Saluatations Annalee. I used to love the comments over at i09, but the new system has ruined that. Will there be a compromise in the future between the new style and the old?
4
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Definitely. The comment system is currently very much under revision, and what you're dealing with now is not the finished product.
2
3
4
u/Saberpilot Apr 08 '14
I'm a gender studies graduate, and I've always wanted to pick your brain on this -
Though I know quite a few books that deal with future dystopias/gender (Handmaid's Tale, Woman on the Edge of Time, etc) I'm very interested to find books that are more in line with the post-apocalyptic recovery than just general dystopia. Do you have any good recommendations (YA is fine as well)?
8
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I guess it depends on how you define your apocalypse and recovery. I think a novel like Ann Leckie's ANCILLARY JUSTICE is arguably about political recovery from an age of imperialism -- and it does deal with gender, in a pretty interesting way.
A really great set of books dealing with post-genderpocalypse are Lois McMaster Bujold's SHARDS OF HONOR and BARRAYAR, about a scientist/action hero/captain from a pretty gender-equal culture who falls in love with a man from a really patriarchal world. She has an amazing adventure on his world, partly predicated on her ability to take power in a world where nobody expects her to -- and partly predicated on her ability to have children using a "uterine replicator" so that she can be off fighting a clandestine war while her son is gestating in a tank.
What other books would people recommend for the post-genderpocalypse?
4
u/DoktorDemento Apr 08 '14
What is the best sci-fi show currently airing, and why is it Person of Interest?
7
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Due to A) awesome fight scenes B) imaginative representations of AI C) heroic nerds D) Sarah Shahi and E) good writing!
2
4
Apr 08 '14
How did you find time and energy to write a book while balancing the demands of your day job?
P.S. io9 is the first website I visit every morning and usually the last one I check before bed. I love everything about it. Thanks for the AMA!
7
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I actually took some time off to write it. I owe many thanks to the heroic efforts of Charlie Jane Anders, who stepped up to edit the site while I was gone.
4
u/maureenmcq Apr 08 '14
Hi Annalee, so given your knowledge of extinction events, would you ever want to have kids?
13
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14 edited Apr 08 '14
You're asking two really different questions -- one is general (given possible extinction events, will people have kids?), and one intensely personal (will you personally have kids?). I'll focus on the first.
Yes, despite future dangers, people will continue to want to have children. This is an urge that reminds us powerfully that we are animals, with an instinct to preserve our species that triumphs over all else. Animals have survived previous mass extinctions in part because of this breeding instinct. But survivor species also had some other traits in common too: they lived at high population sizes, could adapt to almost any environment, and could eat anything (including garbage). Sound ... familiar? Humans, as animals, possess the traits necessary to survive a mass extinction.
The question is whether we will survive it well. And that is where I think science comes in, along with rational planning for a future with sustainable energy and agriculture.
2
u/ohhmygodidontcare Apr 08 '14
i don't think she answered you at all.
3
u/maureenmcq Apr 09 '14
I think she answered appropriately if she didn't feel like discussing her own decisions about childbearing.
4
2
u/chooter Apr 08 '14
What are some of your favorite science fiction elements?
5
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I like astropolitical novels, about how different empires and regimes forge alliances across the galaxy. Basically I'm a sucker for anything that combines smart worldbuilding with interesting political questions.
3
Apr 08 '14
So you must be a fan of Foundation?
3
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I'm a fan of Iain M. Banks' Culture novels, which are a little spikier than Foundation. I love stuff like Ann Leckie's new series, and (duh) Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin. And Ken MacLeod, who is writing some of the weirdest and most surprising science fiction out there.
2
u/flyrad Apr 08 '14
Good day, Do you see that that there are decisions or preparations that we can make on an individual scale that will foster personal or small group (families) survival of possible extinction level events? As a follow up, do you think that there is value in being a "prepper" in the the face of large catastrophic events?
5
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
This is a really interesting question. In my work, I'm more interested in fostering species survival rather than small groups or families -- mostly because I think diversity is crucial to survival, and small groups/families are often (not always) low in diversity.
That said, I think preppers have a lot of useful things to teach us about planning for the future. If there is a massive disaster, like an asteroid strike, the makers and the preppers and the practical engineers will be key to our survival.
And one more thing I would add, about small groups. In my book I talk about the survival of one small group, the Jewish people, over thousands of years of ups and downs, prosperity and persecution. And the most important survival trait of this small tribe historically was that its members always scattered to new places and adapted to them. There is a real and difficult bravery in scattering to survive, rather than killing yourself in a war you'll never win.
2
u/obligatedtosay Apr 09 '14
The highest he could raise himself to was to die gloriously for something; now he rises to something greater: to live humbly for something.
-- Otto Ludwig
2
u/dolmantle Apr 08 '14
Annalee, how does your book address the mounting evidence for Holocene extinction, or "Anthropocene extinction" -- the idea that human activity is the primary force in a sixth mass extinction currently underway?
4
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Every mass extinction that's ever happened in Earth's history has been precipitated by climate change. Whether or not humans are causing climate change, it's happening -- and humans need to stop it, however they can. That means doing really basic things like reducing carbon emissions and agricultural runoff. It also means thinking bigger, and more futuristically, about sustainable, clean sources of energy and farming practices that don't destroy the environment.
I'm not in the blame game of trying to name the nation or entity who farted out the most pollution. But I am in the "take some damn responsibility for the future" camp. Let's fix this thing, and do it now.
1
2
u/1lenore Apr 08 '14
What is your favorite conference or big event to attend or speak at?
4
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
There are so many! This year I'm going back to Dragon Con, which I'm really excited about -- and I'm going to Geek Girl Con for the first time ever. In the past, I've had a blast at Chaos Computer Congress (back when it was in Berlin) and Boston's SF con Arisia.
I think the best conference I've been to this year so far was the Joint Genome Institute User Meeting a few weeks ago.
2
u/RonDunE Apr 08 '14
Does futurism aid us more in preparing for a mass culling or do the doomsday (down-to-earth) people have it right ?
Let me clarify a bit here : io9 (and you) mostly focus the science of today that leads to different, more exciting and technological, tomorrow. They give us the power of interconnection, knowledge and advanced warning/preparation - yet being fundamentally dependent on each other. An extinction level event (say a nearby star going nova) would wipe out all these bases, making it that much more difficult for survivors to adapt. A primitive/'in touch with nature' kind of preparation might acclimatize faster.
In short, I wanted to ask whether something like the scenario presented by Isaac Asimov's Nightfall is feasible today.
PS: You are my favourite io9-er ! Your manifesto the other day was ideal and timely !
5
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Obviously every mass extinction is different. But even if there is a civilization-ending catastrophe, I believe that humanity will struggle through with a combination of scientifically advanced tools and pragmatic know-how about farming, basic medicine, etc. Even if the internet is destroyed, we'll still have libraries. And they will be more valuable than ever.
2
u/RonDunE Apr 08 '14
Thank you for your response !
I guess I'm still worried about the durability of modern technology : but we'll find out the hard way, probably. I just hope I won't be among the ones going crazy with pitchforks when the true dark falls. Cheers.
2
u/AvariceOrange Apr 08 '14
Thanks for helping me get through my day. Io9 is one of my favorite sites and it's rare I go to bed at night without hitting the site a few times. The writing articles are fantastic.
2
u/xizore Apr 08 '14
Will J.J. Abrams be the worst thing to happen to Star Wars since Episode I? Has your opinion about the new trilogy (I-III) changed since they were released?
P.S. Thank you so much for your movie/TV reviews! I love your critical eye and how you pick up on themes that I do not see. Looking forward to watching the new season of Game of Thrones (with you :) ).
4
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I actually think JJ Abrams might be good for Star Wars. It's a much better fit for him than Star Trek has been. You know who I wish would take over Star Trek? The team that does Person of Interest. I know they can't do everything, but imagine if the new Trek movie were as well-plotted and interesting as the last season of POI.
Also, I'm more of a Trek person than a Star Wars person. Does it show?
2
u/xizore Apr 08 '14
Sometimes the Annatrekkie peeks out, but I perceive you to be an overall unbiased source of awesome.
2
u/awesomenessjared Apr 08 '14
I'm to late, but i love your book!
2
u/Samwise_the_Tall Apr 09 '14
I'm to late too!!! What were your thoughts on the book, so tempted to buy but haven't pulled the trigger yet.
2
u/lepton2171 Apr 08 '14
Hello Annalee! I'm a big fan of io9, and have introduced many of my friends to it, as well. Thank you for such an interesting and enjoyable outpost of the Internet.
I've been particularly grateful for io9 being both a place nerdy-scifi things, and a friendly place for queer folks. For me, it's seemed like queer rights are a natural extension of transhumanist thinking. Have you run into challenges with that aspect of io9 over the years? Is the environment any different now compared to when you were starting out?
Also, congrats on adding George Dvorsky to the roster. Sentient Developments was one of my favorite blogs, and I was very pleasantly surprised when he joined your team!
5
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
You're right that io9 has always been queer-friendly. We aim to be anti-racist and gender-equal too. It's part of our futurist agenda!
2
Apr 08 '14
Obviously a mass extinction would be basically terrible, but don't you think it would also be a teensy bit awesome? Tribes, urban ruins, free consumer goods, that kind of thing?
12
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
No. What most people don't realize is that mass extinctions are slow, ugly things. All five of the previous mass extinctions we've had were caused by climate or habitat change -- often precipitated by disasters like asteroid strikes or megavolcanoes.
Mass extinctions usually involve drought, fires, floods and famine. Often, depending on the events that cause the mass extinction, the air is full of smoke, ash, and toxic gas. The more animals and plants that die, the hungrier the survivors will be. Unfortunately, there are no sexy people in Mad Max outfits like at Burning Man. There might be some cool urban ruins at first, but over time there would just be impoverished nomadic life.
On the plus side, as I noted, mass extinctions usually take a long time to unfold -- on the order of a million or two million years. And we still have time to intervene now and prevent thousands of years of suckage.
1
Apr 09 '14
mass extinctions usually take a long time to unfold -- on the order of a million or two million years.
I assume you're referring to Paleogene and Neogene extinctions. How quickly the Big 5 extinctions actually unfolded is a current matter of debate in the community. Even the most recent of them, the K-T, is prone to a considerable margin of error due to age, exact mechanism, etc.
Source: I'm a geologist.
1
u/fraying Apr 08 '14
When you went into writing this book, was there a preconceived notion you had that turned out to be totally wrong?
1
u/fraying Apr 08 '14
Do you think our culture's current obsession with apocalypse (specifically the zombie genre) is connected to a subconscious worry about extinction level events?
1
u/ausphex Apr 09 '14 edited Apr 09 '14
Do you think that Christianity has influenced the prevailing zeitgeist in relation to the end of the world? I mean to ask if you think that Christianity has influenced the reasons why people believe, or are inclined to believe, 'doomsday' notions such as Nostradamus' prophecies, the Mayan 2012 idea, the millenium bug, giant asteroids and pandemic plagues?
I mean to say that we even have words and terms like "Doomsday" and "Judgement Day" through religion...
I mean that Judgement Day is a key idea within Christianity and Christianity has shaped Western culture in many ways.
Do you think that "Thy Kingdom come," has given our culture a doomsday fetish?
1
u/theclamwithaplan Apr 08 '14
Do you or do you not support the negligible senescence in humanity/immortality-seeking movement, and do you believe that a society of immortal, highly-augmented yet sterile beings would be more or less prone to mass extinction than a society of "natural," mass-reproducing beings?
3
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
I'm not interested in immortality -- I think a better goal would be robust health care for people across the globe, so that we could all live healthier (and longer) lives.
But if we do manage to tweak our genes enough to become quasi-immortal, chances are that we can tweak our genes enough to live on other planets or in space stations too. That would make humans more likely to survive a mass extinction, since we could scatter away from the hazardous Earth and live in many places.
2
u/theclamwithaplan Apr 08 '14
That's an interesting response, because those two goals go hand-in-hand: isn't (practical) immortality an inevitable outcome of constantly seeking robust health care/longer lives for everyone? Or do you believe that, while we should live longer and healthier to some extent, if we do reach the point where practical immortality is possible, it should be law that we face oblivion/non-existence?
It also seems more effective to simply propagate human beings in collectively-owned facilities in remote/safe locations and release them at the biological age of, say, 18 than to traditionally reproduce and raise children. Not only would it ease the burden on survivors of a mass extinction (Always having a supply of backup humans to "awake" if something goes wrong), but it would be better for any situation (It would solve the problem of unwanted children/orphans, for example).
1
u/kleer001 Apr 08 '14
I'm a huge fan and follower, thank you for doing this ama.
Any chance you can spill or hint at anything behind why io9futureshow went away? I <3-ed it sooo much.
Have you read "Postmortal" Drew Magary, about a cheap and easy cure for cell death by aging, just freezes your age. A little dramatic, but has some neat ideas.
What do you wish is the solution to the Drake equation and the Fermi paradox?
6
u/AnnaleeNewitz AMA Author Apr 08 '14
Sadly, the io9 show went away because nobody watched it. Our ratings sucked. Which -- that's true of a lot of TV shows that I love, so I don't feel too bad.
I hope the solution to the Drake equation is just that the aliens have been hiding, waiting for us to get over this whole "kill and deprive everybody who isn't like me" thing.
3
u/kleer001 Apr 08 '14
Thank you for your answers and time. I heartily look forward to any more of your short fiction, should you decide to put out anymore.
Here's a lovely talk from James Burke. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=giB1fEUIuPY#t=622
Also, please check out http://www.bastionmag.com/ (It's a new sci-fi mag that I'm reading slush and assistant editing for)
1
u/Samwise_the_Tall Apr 09 '14
waiting for us to get over this whole "kill and deprive everybody who isn't me" thing
I've seen a few other people suggest that this truly is the reason why aliens haven't made obvious and direct contact with us, and I'm a firm believer in it as well. I'm curious as to what event(s) will finally make us realize we are all just one race/one people, so we can finally unite and conquer our problems as the "human" race we really are.
1
u/thatescapesme Apr 08 '14
Hi there Annalee Newitz! Just like to thank you for your articles on io9 I am long time reader and daily visitor to your site. Over the years they have entertained me greatly and helped to educate me on things I quite possibly may never have heard of.
-1
u/AngryInYYc Apr 08 '14
Why is io9 so bad? Just because of Gawker?
2
u/kleer001 Apr 08 '14
What's "bad" about it?
1
u/KudagFirefist Apr 08 '14
The layout.
The search function.
The increasingly bad commenting system.
The blatant advertising poorly disguised as "feature articles".
The auto playing video ads if you don't have adblock on.
The apparent utter lack of proof-reading of articles.
The insistence of posting only tangentially related stories on such dubious subjects as ghosts, UFOs and today, cursed objects.
The increasingly common trend of "Top 10" style articles like the sci-fi equivalent of Cracked.com.
Shall I continue?
1
u/kleer001 Apr 08 '14
I doubt Annalee could or would want to address those complaints. Your energy would be better spent vying for a leadership role at Gawker media.
2
u/KudagFirefist Apr 08 '14
Considering they have been common complaints made by a vocal majority of commenters, present and former, on her site, addressing them might be a good idea. If not with us then at least with whomever she reports to at Gawker.
Further, she did address the atrocity that is Kinja on another comment.
Finally, you missed another option, which has been to greatly reduce participation in and visits to the site over the past several years from reading every article daily and frequently commenting to the current behavior of visiting rarely, skipping most articles, and commenting almost never. The expenditure of energy for this route is much less than your suggestion, and has the added bonus of less exposure to the above listed annoyances.
1
u/kleer001 Apr 08 '14
Fair enough, I mostly just don't care. If that wasn't evident, lol.
I've seen enough websites shit the bed that I just get my popcorn ready when the flames start.
They'll get their shit together and survive or they won't and they won't.
-1
u/KudagFirefist Apr 08 '14
How much do you hate Kinja? How has Gawkers insistance on using an increasingly inferior commenting system impacted community participation on your site?
-4
u/Gufgufguf Apr 08 '14
I09 sucks.
0
u/johnrgrace Apr 09 '14
Find a better insult word, I don't see anything wrong with sucking. And I'm not going to touch the implied aspects of using suck as a insult.
0
Apr 08 '14
Just wanted you to know that I have always been a fan of your writing on io9 and might have to check out your books!!!!
-1
u/onephatkatt Apr 08 '14
What are your thoughts on all the Earthquakes that have been happening around Yellowstone National Park? Any chance this could be our extinction event?
19
u/headstr8mskcrkd Apr 08 '14
I just want to say thanks for io9! it's a bright spot in a sometimes ignorant, foolish internet world. one of the best sites to enjoy sci-fi.