Economics was like psychology, a pseudoscience trying to hide that fact with intense theoretical hyperelaboration. And gross domestic product was one of those unfortunate measurement concepts, like inches or the British thermal unit, that ought to have been retired long before. Show less «

It felt to me that [science fiction] was how to best express what Southern California was about. Even though it was in symbolic terms, this sense of rapid change and history spinning out of control. ... It was the way Southern California felt. When I was a kid, Orange County was orange trees, and I was reading Huckleberry Finn and thinking I was in Hannibal, Missouri. As a kid, I was pretty wrong about where I was in time and space. Science fiction was a correction. I saw trees get ripped out and replaced by freeways and condominium culture. Science fiction helped me understand it. (2004) Show less «

I was a mystery reader when I was a kid. I like the classic locked-room detective stories. I ran into science fiction through reading Isaac Asimov when I was a freshman in college. At that point, the big light went on. I was a quick convert. (2004) Show less «