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Writer's pictureJayTheDaniels

Why Science Fiction Matters

Updated: Mar 4, 2019



At long last, all my plotting and planning has finally come to fruition, TheCyberOdyssey is now live! Every week a new blog post will appear from the space-time continuum, here to rave about cool tech and possibility futures. My first post shall be a brief one on my absolute favourite topic: why science fiction matters. More than once have I heard passing remarks about science fiction just being about "sexualized aliens" and "glorified Utopian rhetoric"... and then of course there are the far more demeaning comments by non-scholarly types, saying it's all "telepathic squids in space" and, my personal favourite, "an hour per episode of my life I'll never get back". My point is, science fiction often gets treated as a lesser form of both fiction and storytelling as a whole. In response, I offer a mini-thesis in defense of the genre and showing why it does, in fact, matter.


Science Fiction as a Lens


    From its very inception with the seminal piece of science fiction literature, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, the genre's goal was to comment on the place science has in culture. Frankenstein explores the results of a scientific experiment, reanimating a corpse, and morally compels the reader that mankind should not play God. Later works in the genre by writers such as H.G. Wells also serve as pieces of social commentary. War of the Worlds is a commentary on British Imperialism. Some of the most important works of this genre don't exist to talk about how cool the future is going to be, but instead try to warn about the dangers of the direction humanity is going in. Science fiction is not a predictive genre, it's a cautionary one. By extrapolating from the fears of the author, often representing the cultural worries they are from, science fiction works attempt to show what a possible future would be like if things don't change. These days, in the year 2019 there's A LOT of cultural fears that would make for excellent science fiction. Threats of artificial intelligence leading to automation that kills jobs (or people), ignorance of the growing threat of global warming and environmental damage, and an all-or-nothing mentality towards moving humanity into a space-farring species are all examples of anxieties that both can and should be addressed by fictional works. That's the advantage science fiction has over other means of storytelling, both fiction and non-fiction. Most other forms of fiction are specifically character-based, limiting themselves to moral lessons regarding personal traits. "Don't be greedy", "happiness comes from within", "all of life's problems can be solved by running, plus you'll get to meet celebrities", are all examples of morals for individuals to follow, but it becomes harder to depict the morals that a culture should follow. Non-fiction attempts at this can often come across too serious, too heavy-handed, or sometimes just too boring. Science fiction can discuss greater cultural ethos in a way that both informs and entertains. X Men is often considered an allegory for racial inequality, Avatar can be considered an allegory for colonialism and environmental destruction, and the entire sub-genre of cyberpunk explores the effects technology could have on the power of unregulated corporation and increasing wealth gap. None of these are particularly enjoyable topics for light reading, unless you're into that, but through science fiction they can become teachable lessons that resonate with the audience.


Science Fiction Leading Technological Innovation


    My second point initially felt almost counteractive to my first point, but it was on my third attempt of rewriting it that I realized that it really isn't. Science fiction inspires technological innovation. To quote myself from exactly one paragraph ago "science fiction is not a predictive genre, it's a cautionary one", and then to follow-up with what you the potential reader might be thinking "what the heck, guy, why is a non-predictive, cautionary tale giving us inspiration for technology a good thing?" Well, my always welcome inner critic, its the very fact that the dangers are known in advance that makes the technological innovation safer. If artificial intelligence were to be developed without the existence of cultural works such as The Terminator or I, Robot, the potential dangers would be unfamiliar. These works allow for safer innovation that has the benefit of hindsight. It also provides a simpler cultural discourse around topics that would otherwise be far too complicated to discuss. As a result of sci-fi media, someone with a PhD in ethics could reasonably discuss the notion of giving rights to artificial intelligence to someone who has only seen Blade Runner. Science fiction acts almost as a lingua franca for the discussion of often complex cultural and philosophical concepts, which is really a benefit to everyone. 


Concessions


"Science fiction is what we point to when we say it." Damon Knight, author of countless short stories.


    Part of the difficulty in defending an entire genre lies in the scope. What counts as sci-fi? Am I arguing that ALL sci-fi is good? What about sci-fi that doesn't conform to these rules? Star Trek is not a cautionary tale and frequently makes predictions about the future, Star Wars is not technically sci-fi, and there's a lot of pretty bad sci-fi out there. How do I work through those, and am I including the seemingly infinite number of sci-fi short stories out there? The truth of the matter is, science fiction as a genre doesn't have a clear cut definition. Despite my calling it non-predictive and cautionary, that's not entirely true as there are examples of good science fiction that do try to glorify the future. Personally, I'm a big fan of Damon Knight's definition that "science fiction is what we point to when we say it." While it's hard for me to defend that ALL science fiction has value, a fact that I will explore as I dive into individual works, I do still retain that the genre as a whole has a lot of value. It allows the audience to further their understanding of their own culture through the lens of fictional ones, provides inspiration for technological advancement while maintaining it should be done cautiously, and maybe, just maybe, make people think about the world a bit more critically. As a communications student, I consider those to be the noblest of ambitions for a genre of media.


Thank you for reading. Be sure to head over to my Twitter account for quicker bits of cool technoculture and sci-fi musings.

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