Danger Earthings: controversy!

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Danger Earthings: controversy!

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1proximity1
Editado: Fev 24, 2010, 10:44 am

Okay, right up front, you should know that I'm venturing into nearly completely uncharted territory here. SF is something I left sometime back before I turned 15 years of age. It was fun for a while. I'd go to the school library, browse the shelves of science fiction and pick up whatever space-travel novel happened to strike my fancy.

That was long ago in a galaxy far, far away. Yeah, I watched the original Star Trek series at the time it first aired. And, yes, being, uh, still youthful, this stuff entertained me. Now, looking back, I consider it grossly absurd, clumbsy, foolish and puerile---truly embarrassing to watch again on the rare occasions when that is even possible.

So, getting to the point of why I'd come into a SF group's domain, and, in this sub-group in particular, the reason is my recent fascination with a tendency I've only recently noticed---though, for members of this group, I'd be seen as rather late in noticing:

take the author F.A. Hayek. Okay? Now, have a look at his author page : http://www.librarything.com/author/hayekfa

and, look down the page to "favorites" and you get,



Member favorites

Members: ServusLibri, jzdro, stephanwi, ron_right, hollering, pjfunbuns, LeneJohansen, pschellhase, GaryWolf, lawecon, NathanaelS, hypatiaa, szarka, danmcgirt, aretepraxis, boekerij, Adil, veritasnoctis, plattengr, patwagner (show 3 more)




Now, you don't have to guess* what happens when you select any of the member profiles of those for whom Hayek is a favorite and then you examine, at their profile pages, what comes up when you click on "shared favorites", because, what you probably know only too well is that what comes up overwhelmingly, over and over again, are Science Fiction writers, with, far and away in the lead, one Robert A. Heinlein, an undisputed "great among the great" of science fiction.

* but if you do have to guess, then click on the following link to find out:

http://www.librarything.com/profile_sharedfavorites.php?view=ServusLibri

The only authors who come close to his frequency are Ann McCaffrey, and, trailing her, Ayn Rand, an icon of political conservatives, and G.K. Chesterton.

As a pointy-eared guy would say, "Fascinating!, Captain."

My question is simple:

What does this mean? What's 'going on there'? Why the amazing affinity between readers/fans of science fiction, particiularly Heinlein, and what's commonly veiwed as arch-conservative political opinion, with, for example, so many readers common to Hayek, Heinlein, Ayn Rand and McCaffrey?


Has a sociologist produced a good thorough study of this phenonemon?

2proximity1
Fev 24, 2010, 10:52 am


Ooops! Heh, I see this has been "discussed" over here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/2155