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Thinking About SF

Written by David Brin

At this crucial point in history, one fact seems to be universally acknowledged, even across a bitter political spectrum. The United States is losing its role as the world's leader in innovation. This problem has many levels. It involves our decline in science and engineering education. It also has deeper roots, in a decaying "can-do" spirit. Americans are losing their belief that they can adapt to a changing world.

Take a look at the inventors, innovators and creative people who pushed our country ahead, from those who propelled the moon landings to pioneers of the Internet, to those who made American cinema the revolutionary pivot of world culture. Not all of them were technical people. But a majority did share an unusual common trait.

They read science fiction.

Moreover, they felt imbued by the central spirit of the genre—that change happens. Are we better off pondering the possible futures that come rushing at us, all the time? No other civilization ever matched ours in the fecundity with which we do this new thing—peering ahead, eagerly, for either good or bad news. Sometimes we get needed warnings, about futures to be avoided. Other visions of tomorrow glimmer in front of us, offering tantalizing glimpses of what we might become.

None of these gedankenexperiments (thought experiments) offer roadmaps! Science fiction is not about cult prescriptions. It has always been about agility. A willingness to ponder how actions have consequences. Often derided (by the unimaginative) as "nerdy," this is the field of literature that inspired Al Gore to start hollering about catastrophic change, to be avoided. It also inspired many of those around Barack Obama to seek change that we desperately need.

Alas, new generations bring new challenges. Nowadays, science fictional themes, images and memes are more popular than ever, but conveyed largely by simplistic media—Hollywood films, videos, web art—that carry none of the complexity, back-and-forth, or detailed inquiry that one still finds in the best SF literature. When authors like Kim Stanley Robinson, Catherine Asaro, or Vernor Vinge craft vivid near-tomorrows, they offer far more depth, counterpoint and experimental maturity than you'll find in a hundred thriller movies.

Hence, it is lamentable that—even as science fictional tropes spread far and wide—the simplistic appears to be driving out the complex. We are losing the core utility of SF as a means for mature exploration of change.

Which brings me to the AboutSF Program