Rebels and low tech survivors in the SF universe

A lot of science fiction is heavily reliant on shiny tech.  Tech-based stories routinely involve cyborg enhancement of organic beings, consciousness downloads or transfers, or reliance on avatars or environmental tech to survive on otherwise hostile worlds.  These stories often don't consider the human factor on that tech.  Somehow the all-seeing emperor always knows what's happening in every area of her vast far-flung star empire, something I j just can't buy as an idea.

I've never been one for worshipping at the altar of SF tech. I don't feel the need to own every leading-edge device, and I have concerns about the immersiveness of gaming and virtual worlds. I question and challenge how good those things are for me, how good they are for the long-term development of a cohesive civilisation.  In my SF I'm always with the rebels who don't live in tightly-controlled cities.  

My heroes and heroines are likely to be living outside the control of the city's all-seeing AI.  They probably don't rely on tech to survive.  They use their skills and self-belief to get them through the harsh winters.  These are the people who will survive when our shiny tech breaks down.  And unless human nature changes in the future, it will break down.  The profit Imperative will still tempt companies to take short-cuts in rushing tech to market, and to skimp on vital maintainance procedures. 

Because I have an interest in wildlife conservation, much of my SF is set on unspoiled wild worlds.  It involves characters who love being in the wilderness.  This is partly my desire to write about the natural world and wildlife issues, to envisage a future where the natural world and its creatures can survive.   But some of that writing  explores what happens when humans arrive on new worlds and begin exploiting wildlife for human gain.  I'm writing cautionary tales, and, I hope, providing a sliver of hope for the future too.  Because the defenders of wildlife win in my books.

The future will contain rebels, people who can afford intrusive tech, but who refuse it.  People who wish to stay un-augmented, relying on their own wits.  I envisage many of them would leave Earth for less crowded planets, founding colonies in touch with the natural world of their homes.

When the shiny tech starts to fail it is these people who will survive, people who know how to light a fire and hunt for their dinner in the wilderness.  When the banking system has collapsed and no-one has access to their credits any more, we'll need their skills as hunter-gatherers to survive.