I spent the past weekend deeply involved in discussions ranging from whether the Harry Potter books teach witchcraft to children to whether technology can save the world. In between, I participated in the improvisational writing of a short story, sang songs by J. R. R. Tolkein, and photographed Dirk Benedict, former star of Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team.
Such an eclectic weekend is what I’ve come to expect from ConVersion, the annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in Calgary.
People interested in science fiction are also often interested in science, which is why ConVersion brings in a science guest of honor each year. This year it was Dr. Bill Brooks of Saskatoon, the Executive Director of the Western Space Education Network, a non-profit volunteer organization that uses outer space to foster interest in science and technology in the prairie region’s elementary and secondary schools. Dr. Brooks’s panels included “Robots in Space–The End of Manned Space Exploration?”, “The International Space Station–Pit Stop to the Stars or Money Pit in Orbit?”, “Living in Space,” and “Can Technology Save the World (or Destroy It)?” which I was also part of.
The standard answer to this question (which I set forth) is that technology is a tool that can be used for good or ill. We depend on technology to feed, clothe and shelter us and help us deal with illness and disease. We can’t go back to the technology of even a hundred years ago without sentencing large numbers of our fellow humans to death through disease or starvation.
Dr. Brooks, playing devil’s advocate, suggested that, far from technology being bad and nature being good, nature is the “bad guy,” which, left alone, would kill us off like it eventually kills off every other species. Technology is our only weapon against this implacable enemy.
Another panelist noted that even if technology doesn’t destroy the world, it will change it, and we must ask, “Change it for whose benefit?” He pointed out that we could use genetic engineering to create pest-resistant plants instead of (the current approach) pesticide-resistant plants…but there’s little incentive to do that when the research is being funded by corporations that make pesticides.
Our conclusion was that, although it’s impossible to accurately predict the effects of new technology, science fiction can alert us to the dangers as well as the potential benefits–and then it’s up to us as citizens to make sure that our elected politicians are aware of those risks and use that knowledge to create safeguards against the misuse and dangerous side-effects of new technology. As someone put it, “Politicians love to be influenced–and if you don’t influence them, someone else will.”
Another major focus of the convention was writing. The writer guest of honor was David Drake, author or co-author of 49 fantasy and science fiction books. I had the opportunity to share a panel with him on the topic of “The Writer’s Life–Living Outside the Craft.” Other topics included “The Classic Hero–Passé or Still Needed?”, “Editing–Slash and Burn Your Prose,” and the very topical, “e-Publishing–The Way of the Future?” I also participated in a panel on “Humour in SF–When and How to use Humour Effectively” (apparently I’m considered a funny guy) and one on “Christian Science Fiction.”
Some of the most fun I had was participating in “Writers at the Improv,” where three teams of two writers each created the first sentence of a story based on a word provided by the audience. The audience decided which sentence they liked best, then provided another word for the second sentence, and so on. I’m proud to say my team, consisting of myself and Calgary writer Liz Westbrook, provided the winning opening sentence, incorporating the word “centrifugal”: “Peter didn’t fully appreciate the power of centrifugal force until the lid came off the blender, splattering the console with blood and bug juice.” The story proceeded rapidly–as befits something moving quickly downhill–from there. (You can read the complete story–if you must–here.)
There were also panels focusing on art with artist guest of honor Jean-Pierre Normand, an art show and auction, comics panels, anime panels, a dealers’ room selling books, models, videotapes, jewelry and everything else with an SF or fantasy connection, a video room showing non-stop SF movies, conversations with Dirk Benedict, and much more.
Each year I find ConVersion creatively and intellectually stimulating and a whole lot of fun to boot–just like the literary genre it celebrates.
