In contrast to its early "Golden Age", much of the science fiction written in the 70's and 80's reflected deep insecurity and pessimism about the future. Abandoned cities abounded, depopulated by nuclear holocausts, environmental disasters, or mass exoduses. They were filled with decaying infrastructure, inscriptions in dead languages, and mysterious artifacts now useless and incomprehensible apart from the supports of civilization (think of toasters and refrigerators without electricity). At least, this is how it seems from the perspective of a few intervening decades of prosperity, but how did it seem then? Did this trend reflect a larger phenomenon in literature? Was it in any way prescient? And when will it start to incorporate our feelings about the decades ahead of us? How is the SF index trending? At what point do we begin to have some sort of perspective on the superstructures of the present age?

If the period of technological expansion following WWII was about conquering certain aspects of the physical world (distance, disease, and decay; think superhighways, modern hospitals, and processed food), the developments of the last two decades seem to center around the social world. E-mail, cell phones, and text messages made communication instantaneous. Friendster, Myspace, and Facebook took the guesswork out of social relationships; no more wondering if someone is single, or what they are doing, who they know, or what they're interested in. Amazon and eBay replaced the complex issues of trust and valuation involved in buying something; Wal-Mart and UPS took control of the supply chain that gets products to our stores and mailboxes; electronic trading and a panoply of statistical tools did the same for stocks and other financial instruments.

This is nothing new; futurists have been talking about network effects for a while now. But has anyone started to think about what happens when the connection fails? I ask out of curiosity, not pessimism. The lights may stay on for a good long time yet, but it seems like a healthy thing to think about what the shadows look like. We pore through the wreckage of the late great financial empires, wondering what happened and what these terms like 'risk' and 'leverage' actually mean. What if the rot extends deeper?