One of the greatest things about the science fiction genre is that it provides nearly limitless boundaries for the creative potential of its writers. Science fiction is a lot like a sandbox where we build the castles of our reality and then tear them down to start all over. It allows us to experiment with ideas about reality that would be difficult to attempt in real life. Science fiction has obvious entertainment value but, even more; it has value to all branches of science. It is useful in anthropology, psychology and sociology because it allows us to create new societies. With it we are able to ask questions about how humanity would react in these new environments. It is useful in the biological and computer sciences because it allows us to alter our physical being and interact with technology not yet invented. Although many see science fiction as a form of escapism, to me it is anything but. To me science fiction acts as a mirror reflecting the possibilities of our reality in giving us new angles to look at our very real world.
First, let's look at how science fiction creates new paradigms in which to look at society and culture. Countless science fiction authors have stories in which they greatly alter human society. Novels, such as Robert A. Heinlein's, Stranger in a Strange Land, Neil Stephenson's, Snow Crash, and Ursula K. Le Guin's, The Dispossessed, deal largely with the social organism and the human condition. These novels are useful because civilization isn't static. Cultures are constantly changing and evolving. How our current culture will evolve in the future is unknown. By playing with cultural possibilities we are able to see multiple pathways our current culture can take. These fictional experiments do have their limits. To recreate many of science fiction’s cultural traits would require such a large amount of resources that real world applications are unrealistic.
Next, let's look at the use of biology and technology in science fiction and its usefulness to these scientific fields. Many science fiction authors dabble in this subject matter. The fusion of technology and biology is a very real possibility in our future and the possible repercussions of this fusion are an area that can't go overlooked. Novels, such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and movies, such as The Matrix, ask serious questions of what consciousness is and what reality is. These are questions all sciences try to answer but have not, as of yet, come to any concrete conclusions. Not being limited to current technology, science fiction gives us new ways in which we can ask these questions. This is a very useful tool because it can prepare us for the questions that will arise when this technology comes into existence. Again, the one drawback is that these are theoretical possibilities and we lack the current technology for real world application.
Now, let’s concentrate on the science fiction movie, Altered States. Although much of the science in this movie is highly improbable, there are elements in it that have possible present real world applications. In the movie, a Harvard scientist, Eddie Jessup, finds a hallucinogen that allows them to devolve first mentally and then physically. While no such hallucinogens exist, experiments have been done using chemical compounds to alter consciousness and distort perceptive reality. I believe in the science fiction story we have found subject matter that can move beyond the theoretical. In the 40’s and 50’s, the use of psychoactive drugs was thought to be ushering in a new era in psychology. This new science is actually an old science used for thousands of years by shamans and mystics to better understand their world. Many experiments were done often with mixed results. The field was young and held a lot of promise but the improper and illegal use of these compounds by social masses caused all experimentation to be shut down because of the threat of social unrest. For over 40 years, this area of science sat stagnant. Recently there has been a rebirth in these studies. Movies, such as Altered States, that showed potential of these compounds helped but mostly it was respected scientists who advocated the positive use of these compounds in controlled settings. The movie also influenced many of these scientists and reminded them of these compounds scientific past and their scientific future.
Finally, we can see the benefits this genre fiction has on her everyday life. We realize the use of these theories in fiction stories can translate into real life theories. After all, before ideas become reality they start off as a theory. The fact that some science fiction stories have inspired real life technology and real life pharmacology is further proof that science fiction is useful in real science. The truth to me is science fiction feeds off science and science feeds off science fiction and in the spirit of Einstein I say, it’s all relative.
Altered States. Dir. Ken Russell. Perf. William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban. Warner Home Video, 1980. DVD.
Dick, Philip K.. Do androids dream of electric sheep? . New York: Ballantine Books, 19961968. Print.
Heinlein, Robert A.. Stranger in a Strange Land. New York: Ace Books, 1987. Print.
Le Guin, Ursula K.. The Dispossessed . New York: Harper Collins Publishers, Inc. , 1991. Print.
Stephenson, Neal. Snow crash . New York: Bantam Books, 1992. Print.
The Matrix. Dir. Andy Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss. Warner Home Video, 1999. Film.
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