--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Trying to project our expectations and…" description: "\"Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto the sci-fi being written in China now isn't terribly helpful.\" — Ken Liu" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg" --- # Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto… ![“Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto the sci-fi being written in China now isn't terribly helpful.” quote by Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg) > “Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto the sci-fi being written in China now isn't terribly helpful.” [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Projecting expectations onto Chinese sci‑fi may misinterpret its unique cultural context. **In simple terms:** Avoid imposing expectations on foreign sci‑fi. Key Takeaway Approach foreign works without bias. Themes culture expectations media Mood thoughtful critical Type analysis caution When to use this quote - reading foreign literature - creative collaboration Key Concepts anthropology literary criticism Questions to Reflect On - What assumptions do we bring to foreign media? - How can we respect cultural differences? A Different Perspective Cultural nuance can be missed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [China](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china/) [China Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china-isn-322841/) [Desires Sci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desires-sci-4459357/) [Expectations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations/) [Expectations Desires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expectations-desires-1691240/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Now](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/now/) [Onto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/onto/) [Project](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/project/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Written China](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/written-china-1743740/) ## Related quotes > [It's kind of cool that I know of all this great science fiction being written in China, and most of it is not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/it-s-kind-of-cool-that-i-know-of-all-this-great-science-fiction-being/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [People think that buildings are permanent, but in China, this isn't true; we can always demolish and remake it better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ma-yansong/people-think-that-buildings-are-permanent-but-in-china-this-isn-t/) [Ma Yansong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ma-yansong/) > [Of course I have the license to make up things, but I think a lot of what's written about China is misleading, and most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anchee-min/of-course-i-have-the-license-to-make-up-things-but-i-think-a-lot-of/) [Anchee Min](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anchee-min/) > [I wanted to make people proud, not let anyone down, but I think over time I've started to learn to manage that with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pokimane/i-wanted-to-make-people-proud-not-let-anyone-down-but-i-think-over/) [Pokimane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pokimane/) > [“Expectations are those desires you believe you have the right to see fulfilled. 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Like Beatles songs and stuff. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-ward/when-i-first-started-making-music-it-was-learning-other-people-s/) [M. Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-ward/) > [I don't think you should ever say, 'This is the last time'. Music isn't like that. 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I can never understand why some people think it matters whether it's the government doing it to you or a company.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/surveillance-is-surveillance-i-can-never-understand-why-some-people/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [Whenever you talk about Chinese dragons, emperors, palaces, concubines - they conjure up a whole colonial argle-bargle that has nothing to do with historical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/whenever-you-talk-about-chinese-dragons-emperors-palaces-concubines/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [We have never had a society that was truly just. 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Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-e-sanger/) [Browse all 3,827 China quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/china/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto the sci-fi being written in China now isn't terribly helpful.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ken Liu" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-our-desires-onto-the-sci-fi/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "China" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-our-desires-onto-the-sci-fi/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e38/ken-liu-4222_china_trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-o_2952865.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Trying to project our expectations and our desires onto the sci-fi being written in China now isn't terribly…” — Ken Liu", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ken Liu", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Trying to project our expectations and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-our-desires-onto-the-sci-fi/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/trying-to-project-our-expectations-and-our-desires-onto-the-sci-fi/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```