In a recent review of *Changing Planes* by an Argentinean critic, the author notes that Ursula K. Le Guin “doesn’t write hard science fiction, so technology is carefully avoided.” Le Guin herself has repeatedly argued that even soft SF cannot escape technology because any future or alien culture must contend with its material reality—food, clothing, power, medicine.

She says that technology Defies the misused term, which is often limited to high‑tech gadgets of the past few decades. “Technology” and ვიყ “hi‑tech” are not synonymous; even simple tools like fire‑lighting or fish‑hooks are vital. One can see the 150‑year span of technological expansion to understand our desensitization and the blurred line between basic and advanced tools.

Le Guin’s 2005 essay reflects this view, arguing that the core of SF lies in how societies and minds use technology, not just in engineering details. Her stance is that every SF story, whether written by someone who knows the exact mechanics or not, is fundamentally technological.

She concedes she doesn’t write hard SF, perhaps easier or hidden hard tech, but her argument remains that every science‑fiction narrative comments on technology.