14 science fiction stories in under 6 minutes @TomScottGo
14 science fiction stories in under 6 minutes  @TomScottGo
Uploaded March 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I can't make science fiction any more. So, to get the ideas I have out of my head, I went to a Standard BBC Quarry, and put all of them one video. Pull down the description for a list of the books that inspired these!

FICTION RECOMMENDATIONS, all FREELY AVAILABLE ONLINE:

ACCELERANDO by Charles Stross (2010): novel created from short stories. antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html
Arguably the peak of late-noughties singularity fiction, a fad for the "rapture of the nerds" that's mostly passed now. It's still worth a read, even if its early sections are already feeling a little dated:

BIT PLAYERS by Greg Egan (2014): short story. subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter_2014/bit_players_by_greg_egan
Part one of a trilogy that continues in 3-Adica and Instantiation, available in this short story collection: amzn.to/3tLn1dO [that's an Amazon affiliate link]

EVERYONE IN SILICO by Jim Munroe (2004): novel. jimmunroe.net/writing/free_ebook_released.html
A book from the peak era of Adbusters, talking about corporate-sponsored mind-uploading, the author tried to invoice a load of brands for the entirely-uninvited "product placement".

LENA by qntm (2021): short story. qntm.org/mmacevedo
Terrifying Wikipedia article from the future. And while it's technically about uploading, it's also not about uploading: qntm.org/uploading


REFERENCED IN THE VIDEO BUT I HAVEN'T READ YET:
THE AGE OF EM by Robin Hanson (2016) amzn.to/36eqGJl [affiliate link]


BBC Micro-style on-screen counter thanks to the Octagon Simulator from Graeme Cole: greem.co.uk/octagonsimulator


πŸŸ₯ MORE FROM TOM: tomscott.com
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
❓ LATERAL, free weekly podcast: lateralcast.com youtube.com/lateralcast
πŸ‘₯ THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: youtube.com/techdif
14 science fiction stories in under 6 minutesWhy Progress Bars Dont Move Smoothly β–“β–“β–“β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘β–‘How one little boat (and me) held up miles of London traffic at Tower BridgeBoarding planes could have been very differentI tried using AI. It scared me.I have a weird conspiracy theory about this bridgeThe long-forgotten history of the British moon spacesuitThese tiny ships have a serious purposeTrying To Fail A Drug Test On PurposeThe worlds most expensive object by weightThis town forgot to be a cityThe World Is Slowly Running Out Of Sand
Tom Scott |

14 science fiction stories in under 6 minutes

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