“You’re a science fiction writer, huh? What have you predicted?” I’ve been asked this many times-and my usual reply is, “I’m not a prophet and I don’t predict…” But in a way, the question is legitimate.
Science fiction is often charged with the task of modeling the future, or a variety of futures. If a writer never scores a few strikes, why bother bowling at all?
So… a few strikes, and some spares:
QUANTUM LOGIC COMPUTERS: “HEADS” UP!
In my novella “Heads” (1991) (published as a separate volume by Random House U.K. under their Legends imprint, and by Tor in the U.S.) I described Quantum Logic Thinkers in some detail. In the future explored by Queen of Angels (1990), “Heads,” Moving Mars (1993), and my next novel, Slant (~1997), computers are differentiated from “thinkers,” which use neural net processes and are sentient.
Quantum Logic thinkers, like quantum logic computers, utilize quantum processes and logic to perform their work, bringing in unusual and sometimes spooky results. (There’s actually a hint of this in my earlier novel, “Blood Music” (1985) where I touch on using quantum processes to speed biological computers.)
