I agree with this on Heinlein. I was kind of going through the sci-fi canon after pirating Dune 2 (a visual masterpiece my god), starting back with Lovecraft working through Asimov to about Gibson. Like damn, I didn't even know the wild controversy StarTrek caused in the 60s when it showcased the world's first interracial kiss on film. Or how Asimov got put on the FBI watchlist for his socialist and anti-religious views. Kind of an endless list of stuff. It's not all of them course, but the sci-fi canon much like you and @doofus were saying.

mallardshead

I think that's mostly right -- more _thinking around_ than thinking ahead, though, at least the good ones.  Sticking to Heinlein, he's at once more "progressive" than most writing today, but also more "regressive".  Which is which is in the eye of the beholder.

elvismercury

mostly_harmless

A dozen completely random things I learned this week:

Right, if you think of the word progressive, that means moving forward. Sci-fi writers are always thinking ahead, not necessarily a conservative behavior.