A common theme in many of today’s scifi stories is one of desolation, typically a planet ruined by human activity, or a population which cannot be properly fed or sustained.
Where is the creative thinking which gave birth to our precious genre? Where are the hero scientists who learn to feed a million people per square meter of farmland ? Where are the solar power plants which operate at 100% efficiency, or the nanotech waste recyclers which generate a nearly lossless society?
It appears most science fiction writers have been brainwashed by the “common wisdom” of today’s society, they are no longer capable of imagining a greater good. Will there be any more big thinkers writing scifi for us all?
Perhaps I’m one of the last real science fiction writers, someone who imagines that today’s “terrible” problems will be so easily solved that one day we will laugh at how serious we were. I can hear my grandchildren’s voices echoing down from a distant future where they ask me in all seriousness “Grandpa, did people once really believe that Earth would get so warm the ice caps would melt? Didn’t you have any scientists back then?”
The truth is that soon we will be able to feed 100 billion people without any significant change in the amount of farmland, we will have clean drinking water for them all from desalination and nanotech recycling, global warming will be a distant joke even if the sunspots do return. Resistant bacteria will be easily killed with phages, avian flu will be erased by targeted anti-viral agents, and cancer will be in the same category as today’s tooth decay (which will have been eradicated). I see a day where rain forests can be created in a few years using ultra-fast growing bioengineered plants. Old growth forests will be established in time capsules orbiting the moon, then transplanted where ever we want to see one. Abortion will become transplant surgery where a 1-day old fetus can be safely transplanted into the womb of a woman who will love and care for her.
Are any big thinkers out there? Please contact me and we’ll try to move science fiction to a more optimistic footing.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Sharon // Aug 17, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think the reason many of these things aren’t happening in real life is that politics and political agendas get in the way of scientific achievement. While science shouldn’t necessarily just “jump forward in leaps and bounds” for science’s sake, we also shouldn’t allow the politicians (and others who hold the purse strings) to so thoroughly muddy up the waters of what should and should not be pursued. While, in general, I’m not for cloning humans or creating and destoying embryos for stem cells (too much like playing God), I think that other avenues like alternate energy research (or even possibly drilling in Alaska) have become so political and PC motivated that they are now being decided by people who have no real knowledge of the subject. Look at the debate over deciding whether or not polar bears are endangered! I could go on, but I won’t!
2 Michael L // Aug 17, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I would like to think that that direction is where we are headed, but I’m afraid history says otherwise. Yes, we as a species, have taken great steps to eradicate some of the ills that have plagued us for centuries. But, we are still very far away from the Utopian world in which you describe. I really, really want to believe that what you say will come to pass, but, as I look around today, I still see the scourge of extreme poverty, the scourge of AIDS and other diseases, the scourge of war and it’s consequences upon society, with thousands left dead, and millions displaced in its wake.
I agree with you. Let’s band together to see what we can do to put an end to these things, so that we can make this planet a better place for our kids and grandchildren!
Thanks!
3 Sean // Aug 18, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I was only asking about scifi stories, not about real life. Scifi used to be overwhelmingly optimistic.
4 Jeffrey // Sep 17, 2008 at 7:54 pm
To be fair, you did say “The truth is…” - seemed to be assuming that the optimistic possibilities of science fiction would take place in the real world. While I certainly agree that it’s quite possible technology will solve many of our problems, I also think it’s possible that it won’t. I doubt either of us can say for sure.
Science fiction, as a genre which describes our world and perhaps examines possible future, has to make a choice among the possibilities. To put it simply, better safe than sorry. If the truth really is that a given problem has no easy technological solution, it’s perhaps more responsible for science fiction to encourage us to see the problem and its ultimate consequences. Optimistic science fiction carries with it the danger of becoming escapist, assuring us that everything will be okay when no one really knows.
Perhaps the genre should seek a balance including more optimism. However, as the genre which can examine these issues, science fiction has a responsibility to keep asking the tough questions.
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