Currents 098: Damien Walter on Science Fiction and the Rhetoric of Story

Jim talks with Damien Walter about science fiction and the mechanics of myth. They discuss the roles of pathos & ethos in science fiction, Damien's lifelong fascination with sci-fi, the symbolon of "science fiction," Star Trek vs Star Wars, categorizing Star Wars, Asimov's idea of psychohistory, The Lord of the Rings & the value of myth, the Inklings literary group, the metaphysics of Tolkien, fostering a creator culture, creating as an alternative to consumption, Jim's Script Helper program & opening the door to creativity, the collapse of status competition to money & beauty, the corporate entertainment franchise, collaborative virtual world-making, addictive games & porn, the highjacking of the red pill metaphor, Pavlovian conditioning in games, positioning between the most virtuous & the most evil, the way that evil eats itself, a book recommendation, systems novels, science fiction as philosophy fiction, the novels of Neal Stephenson, and much more. Episode Transcript Damien Walter (website) Damien Walter (Substack) Damien Walter (Medium) The Rhetoric of Story course "The Truth of Myth: JRR Tolkien and the return of the mythos," by Damien Walter JRS EP 188 - Robert Tercek on Intellectual Property in the Time of AI The Humane Use of Human Beings, by Norbert Weiner JRS EP143 - John Vervaeke Part 1: Awakening from the Meaning Crisis JRS EP 185 - Daniel Suarez on the Near Future of Space Exploration There Is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm Termination Shock, by Neal Stephenson Damien Walter is a writer and a storyteller who has written for The Guardian, the BBC, Wired, The Independent, Aeon, and others. He teaches The Rhetoric of Story and Writing the 21st-Century Myth to over 35,000 students worldwide, and is the host of the Science Fiction Podcast.