Reply to comment

Science fiction, with its tendency to focus on things non-human (cyborgs, aliens, robots, etc.) and the meaning of being human, would be an awesome place to explore the boundaries of the categories with which we define ourselves. sgb90 and I explored these ideas a little in our essays-- if one can expand one's self or one's capabilities through the Internet or other technology, what does this mean for the concept of self? Science fiction, I think, often tries to get at some kind of essential core meaning/purpose of humanity, and looking at that aspect of it could be a great way to explore the idea of genre itself-- how possible it is or isn't to categorize things by their essential attributes, and what to do about the fuzzy lines that divide the boxes we draw.