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The worst mistake of first contact, made throughout history by individuals on both sides of every new encounter, has been the unfortunate habit of making assumptions. It often proved fatal.

David Brin

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David Brin
Age: 74
Born: 1950
Born: October 6
Astronomer
Astrophysicist
Novelist
Physicist
Science Fiction Writer
Scientist
Screenwriter
Writer
Glendale
California
USA
Glen David Brin
Made
Sides
Encounters
Every
Literature
Assumption
Making
Throughout
Individual
Contact
Assumptions
History
Individuals
Fatal
Often
Habit
Proved
Firsts
Mistake
Encounter
First
Worst
Unfortunate

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Reciprocal accountability, or criticism [is] the only known antidote to error.
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Predicting has a spotty record in science fiction. I've had some failures. On the other hand, I also predicted the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of fundamentalist Islam... and I'm not happy to be right in all of those cases
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In the end, the work of diplomats continues even while others fight. So, it's not necessarily true that everyone needs to march.
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Above all, TRIBES is fun, and even kind of sexy... in that every round features an Opportunity for Reproduction, which is the main aim of the game, as it is in most of Nature
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It's how creativity works. Especially in humans. For every good idea, ten thousand idiotic ones must first be posed, sifted, tried out, and discarded. A mind that's afraid to toy with the ridiculous will never come up with the brilliantly original.
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Self-righteous people can talk themselves into forgetting they are part of a civilization. They can then feed on that culture, bringing it down. It's happened many times in the past. It could happen to us.
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My first duty to write a gripping yarn. Second is to convey credible characters who make you feel what they feel. Only third comes the idea.
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The fundamental premise of sci-fi is not spaceships and lasers - it's that children can learn from the mistakes of their parents.
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Science Fiction is the jazz of literature.
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But it is a delightful challenge to try to depict interesting aliens.
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I like to be surprised. Fresh implications and plot twists erupt as a story unfolds. Characters develop backgrounds, adding depth and feeling. Writing feels like exploring
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The village is coming back, like it or not.
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My education and background thoroughly inform my writing
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All this talk of using tax policy to 'assess social costs'...what a dumb idea. The only way to stop polluters is to put them against walls and shoot them.
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With gritty action and realistic science, Peter Watts brings to life a dark and vivid world.
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Cultural contamination that is directed outward is always seen as ‘enlightenment.'
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Prison for the crime of puberty -- that was how secondary school had seemed.
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Change is the very fabric of our time.
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Gaia spins on, silently contemplating what it means to be born into a sarcastic universe.
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When I begin a book, I inevitably discover many things along the way, about the characters, their past histories and the political intrigues that surround them. This discovery process is vital, and I would not prejudice it by deciding too much in advance
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