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"The Cold Equations" responses
Dec. 2nd, 2021 09:47 amA new story in Clarkesworld's December edition: "The Cold Calculations" by Aimee Ogden, an extremely political and full-throated response to "The Cold Equations". I'd say a point Ogden is making is: the laws of physics aren't what kills that stowaway, it's socially constructed austerity that does that, and we can change social constructions, together.
I particularly noticed it because of an Omelas-related conversation on MetaFilter recently that also included discussion of "The Cold Equations". I talked about the Ogden story with my spouse today and he put together something that I hadn't -- that "The Cold Equations" is a bit like ticking-time-bomb scenarios (as in the TV series 24, etc.) that authors and policymakers use to justify torture. We make up these stories and then use them to justify awful systemic harms, as though the stories are models of reality, but those stories are made-up!
I particularly noticed it because of an Omelas-related conversation on MetaFilter recently that also included discussion of "The Cold Equations". I talked about the Ogden story with my spouse today and he put together something that I hadn't -- that "The Cold Equations" is a bit like ticking-time-bomb scenarios (as in the TV series 24, etc.) that authors and policymakers use to justify torture. We make up these stories and then use them to justify awful systemic harms, as though the stories are models of reality, but those stories are made-up!
