Shaping Behaviour

After a long day, relaxing should come naturally—but often it doesn’t. Even when we have time to relax, our minds often return to duties or what we “should” be doing instead. This talk explores why in modern societies many people struggle to enjoy the present and why this ability may be just as important as getting things done.

Science fiction narratives are largely motivated by a desire for exploration and discovery—of other bodies and minds, of other spaces, or of other times. Some of these fictions center and reinforce the dominance of a prototypical White, Western, and able-bodied Man in these explorations, others problematize these narratives to subvert hierarchies or show their negative consequences, and some go further yet to explore not just other bodies, spaces, and times but also the potential of becoming entangled with Others, becoming Other ourselves. Picking up on new scientific discoveries and ways of thinking and responding to the disastrous fallout of misguided hero narratives, these texts model different ways of thinking and an inclusionary ethics for be(come)ing together in our troubled times.