[ExI] Arthur C. Clarke dies

[Damien Broderick]

At 04:43 PM 3/29/2008 -0700, spike joenese wrote:

>For those who haven't read it, Damien's The Spike is kinda like an updated
>version of Profiles of the Future.

Even for those who have. :)

I know I'm not the one who should repeat this, but...

In the final edition of Profiles of the Future, a book that had a 
profound impact on me, too, when I read it as an adolescent, shortly 
after it was published, I found this astonishing comment on p. 148: 
'Since this chapter was written, these ideas have been developed in 
great detail by such writers as Eric Drexler (The Engines of 
Creation, 1986) and Damien Broderick (The Spike, 1997). Damien's book 
will serve as a more imaginative sequel to the one you are reading now.'

Holy shit.

As if that wasn't enough, a bit further on I found this delightful 
comment on page 189: 'In The Last Mortal Generation (1999), the 
Australian polymath and science fiction writer Damien Broderick has 
suggested that immortality is not merely desirable--but inevitable. 
My recommendation of this truly mind-stretching book was not in the 
least affected by its dedication: "For Arthur C. Clarke, who profiled 
the future and dreamed of advanced sciences indistinguishable from magic."'

Sir Arthur liked showing people pictures of him taken with the Pope 
or US President or Russian astronaut du jour, or Werner von Braun, 
like that. Me, I like showing quotes with me and him...

Damien Broderick