This is a presentation on the author Orson Scott Card, it argues his place as a Futurist in society.

1. ORSON SCOTT CARD
THE FUTURIST
SCIENCE FICTION AND THE FUTURE OF ETHICS

2. FUTURE-WHAT? WHO?
• A FUTURIST CAN BE BEST DEFINED AS AN INDIVIDUAL WHO SEEKS TO PROJECT OR ENVISAGE
THE NATURE AND REALITY OF THE FUTURE, NEAR OR FAR.
• ORSON SCOTT CARD IS AN AMERICAN SF AUTHOR
DILEMMAS IN A DISTANT FUTURE SETTING
WHO PRESENTED COMPLEX ETHICAL

3. CARD‟S CAREER
• HIS MOST FAMOUS WORK
ENDER QUARTET, A SERIES
FOCUSED ON THE CHARACTER ENDER WIGGIN, A MILITARY PRODIGY
WAS THE
AS A CHILD AND SPACE COLONIST AS AN ADULT
• THE WORK
OF
CARD OFTEN ATTEMPTED
TO ENGAGE WITH
HYPOTHETICAL SITUATIONS WHICH COULD ARISE WITH SPACEFARING
AND PLANETARY COLONIZATION

4. CARD‟S CAREER, 2
• CARD WON BOTH THE PRESTIGIOUS HUGO AND NEBULA SCI-FI LIT AWARDS IN 1985 AND
1986, THE ONLY AUTHOR TO DO SO
• HE WORKED EXTENSIVELY
ON
LDS CHURCH HISTORY AS WELL AS SCI-FI
• HE IS AN ACCOMPLISHED PLAYWRIGHT AND FILM PRODUCER
AS WELL

5. USING SF TO ENGAGE HYPOTHETICALS
• SF HAS MORE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE EXTREME POSSIBILITIES THAN CONTEMPORARY
OBSERVATIONAL SCIENCE
• EXAMPLES WHICH ARE NOT REALISTIC STILL PROVIDE INSIGHTS TO DEALING WITH
EXTREME
SITUATIONS
• THE MORAL QUESTIONS
OF GENOCIDE, XENOCIDE, RACISM AND MEDICAL ETHICS ARE KEY

6. HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• THE EXPLORATION OF A MAJOR XENOCIDE (GENOCIDE OF AN
ALIEN RACE) CAN BE SEEN AN ANALOGOUS TO THE ONGOING A
DEBATE OVER THE ATOMIC BOMB
• HIS ACTIONS ARE DEEMED MORALLY WRONG IN LATER
YEARS, DESPITE A SIMILAR JUSTIFICATION OF THE URGENCY
DECISION WAS MADE IN
THE

7. HISTORICAL CONTEXT, 2
• THE CONSEQUENCE OF THE XENOCIDE WAS THE RAPID EXPANSION OF HUMANITY
• THE COLD WAR
DEVICE
COULD EXPLAIN THE USE OF TWO MONOLITHIC EMPIRES AT WAR AS A PLOT

8. PERSONAL CONTEXT
• THE AUTHOR IS A DEVOUT MORMON WHO HAS PREJUDICED AND INCORRECT VIEWS OF
HOMOSEXUALITY AS A RESULT OF HIS RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ON MORALITY.
• THE HIV/AIDS EPIDEMIC MAY HAVE INFORMED HIS USE OF THE DESCOLADA AS A PLOT
DEVICE

9. FORECASTING DEMOGRAPHICS
• ENGLISH, PORTUGUESE AND CHINESE BEING THE DOMINANT LANGUAGES
IN THE KNOWN
UNIVERSE WAS CLOSE TO CONTEMPORARY DEMOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS
• THE EXISTENCE OF ENTIRELY CHINESE SPEAKING PLANETS FEATURES PROMINENTLY
STORYLINE
IN THE

10. DISEASES OF THE FUTURE
• IN HIS NOVEL SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD A LETHAL INDIGENOUS DISEASE IS DECIMATING A
COLONIAL EFFORT ON AN INHABITED PLANET
• THE DISEASE, KNOWN AS DESCOLADA, TARGETED THE HOST‟S GENES AND MODIFIED THEM
WITH LETHAL EFFECT

11. DISEASES OF THE FUTURE, 2
• RESEARCH INTO GENETICS HAD NOT YET RULED OUT DISEASES DERIVED FROM RADICAL DNA
REPLACEMENT
• THE EARLY IDEA OF DNA AS „BUILDING BLOCKS‟ FOR LIFEFORMS IS A KEY CONCEPT CARD
SEEMS TO HAVE EMBRACED HERE

12. DISEASES OF THE FUTURE, 3
• DURING EXTENSIVE RESEARCH THE CHARACTERS DISCOVER THE DISEASE IS CONSCIOUS
• THE SUGGESTION OF CONSCIOUS MICROBIAL LIFE IS CONTENTIOUS
• MANY VIRUSES AND MICROORGANISMS ACT IN A WAY WHICH CAN BE PERCEIVED AS PREDATORY
BUT IS NOT INTENTIONAL IN A RATIONAL WAY

13. XENO-DISEASE IN REALITY
• PATHOLOGY HAS ADVANCED, BUT XENOORGANISMS ARE A POSSIBLE THREAT EVEN ON
EARTH DUE TO METEORITES
• IT IS A NOTED CONCERN FOR THE MARS ONE
PROGRAM THAT INACTIVE BACTERIA IN THE SOIL
AND ROCK SAMPLES THEY COLLECT COULD
AWAKE WITH LETHAL CONSEQUENCES
• IMAGE OF BACTERIAL FOSSILS FOUND ON A
METEORITE

14. PATHOLOGY OF THE FUTURE
• IN THE STORYLINE, THE DISEASE REACTS TO TREATMENT WITH RUTHLESS
EFFICIENCY
• EACH ATTEMPT TO GENETICALLY ENGINEER FOOD TO PREVENT INITIAL INFECTION IS
UNSUCCESSFUL
• THE AUTHOR WAS RULING OUT EXISTING METHODS
OF FIGHTING DISEASE IN ORDER TO EXPLORE
POTENTIALLY UNDISCOVERED DISEASES WITH UNIQUE IMMUNOLOGICAL ATTACKS

15. EXPLORING THE FUTURE OF RELIGION
• RELIGION IS OFTEN IGNORED AS A TECHNOLOGY
• IT IS A CULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
WHICH IS STILL EVANGELIZED IN
CARD‟S ITERATION OF THE
FUTURE
• RELIGION IS SHOWN TO BE STILL INTEGRATED WITH SOCIAL HIERARCHIES

16. RELIGION IN THE FUTURE?
• CARD‟S PERSONAL BELIEFS SEEM TO HAVE LIMITED HIS PORTRAYAL OF DAOISM AND
CATHOLICISM TO STEREOTYPES
• THE CATHOLIC CHARACTERS ARE PIOUS, CHURCH-GOING YET FREE-THINKING

17. WHY IS DAOISM SO EXTREME?
• THE CHINESE CHARACTERS WHICH PRACTICE DAOISM HAVE REDUCED IT TO OBSESSIVECOMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR
• ESSENTIALLY THEY BELIEVE ENGAGING IN THEIR OCD BEHAVIOR IS COMMUNING
GODS, THOSE WITH THE CONDITION ARE GIVEN SPECIAL PRIVILEGES
WITH THE
• IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT CARD, A CHRISTIAN, WOULD PORTRAY THE RITUAL-HEAVY
DAOISM AS AUTHORITARIAN AND NOT BASED IN REALITY OR DOCTRINE.

18. SPACE TRAVEL, A SF STAPLE
• ORSON SCOTT CARD‟S PROJECTIONS FOR SPACEFARING WERE
AUTHORS‟ WORK AND OTHER KEY SCI-FI SUCH AS STAR TREK
SIMILAR TO CONTEMPORARY
• THE VERY NEW SUGGESTION THAT THOSE TRAVELLING AT EXTREME
SLOW RATES WAS INCORPORATED IN A CENTRAL PLOT DEVICE
SPEEDS WOULD AGE AT

19. PREDICTING THE FUTURE OF DIGITAL COMPUTING
• A TECHNOLOGY
PRESENTED IN THE SERIES AS “THE
ANSIBLE” PROVIDES INSTANT
COMMUNICATION AND UNLIMITED BANDWIDTH
• WHILE NOT LIMITLESS, THE INTERNET IS AN ITERATION OF SUCH A CENTRAL INFORMATION
TRANSFERRAL NETWORK
• EMAILS AND THE FUNCTIONALITY OF DIGITAL COMPUTING ARE DETAILED ACCURATELY

20. SO HOW DOES THAT MAKE HIM A FUTURIST?
• HE BROUGHT A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE TO THE PURSUIT OF HYPOTHETICAL FUTURES
• CARD‟S WORK
WAS BASED ON CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC DISCUSSION, MANY ACTUAL
THEORIES DID NOT ENTIRELY PAN OUT EITHER
• HIS NOVEL ENDER‟S GAME IS REGULARLY
INCLUDED IN MILITARY ACADEMY READING LISTS
BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP AND ADAPTING TO TECHNOLOGY