ARCHIVE: Has Science Spoiled Science Fiction?

Let me preface this by saying I love Science Fiction. My bookshelves are packed with novels from the genre. Every time I walk into my local bookstore, my first stop is the Science Fiction section.

That said, these days, why would anyone read Science Fiction?

There was a time not too long ago when Science Fiction was just that: fictional science. Humans traveled to space, built sentient computers, developed cybernetic limbs, etc. It was a world where possibilities were limited only by human imagination. The ideals of our species were made reality through the efforts of science and technology, but that existed somewhere many generations in the future.

When Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote his John Carter series at the turn of the 20^th century, the thought of our species visiting other planets was still a distant dream. Carter, a Civil War hero for the Confederacy, travels to Barsoom (aka: Mars) only to discover a planet filled with aliens and amazing wonders. Readers were transported to another world, but it only existed in their minds.

Now we have Curiosity roving around the Red Planet. Barsoom, it seems, is not as fantastical as Burroughs imagined. It’s even better. Granted, there are no aliens, but we are getting first-hand accounts of old stream beds, eye-witness accounts of geological surveys, and perhaps signs of microscopic alien life. What was once a land of make-believe is now a centerpiece of attention because the reality is simply amazing.

In more recent literature history, Scott Westerfield wrote one of my favorite Space Operas, The Risen Empire. There’s a scene in the first novel where pilots are flying drones the size of dust particles. At the time, I remember thinking how amazing and dangerous that kind of technology could be. Then I read articles on the shrinking of drone technology to machines smaller than insects and beyond.

These days, Science seems on the verge of upstaging Fiction. We used elaborate jet-packs and parachutes to place rovers on Mars in our quest to expand our understanding of our own solar system. For the first time in history we nailed a comet with the Rosetta spacecraft. Independent entrepreneurs are bringing everyday space travel closer to reality. We’ve developed cybernetics that are so advanced, Skynet seems more and more plausible every day. The computers that put humans on a moon once filled up rooms at NASA. Now we carry phones in our pockets that not only stampede far beyond the power of those machines, they also have a universe of knowledge at our fingertips*. We can peer farther into the universe than ever before while, at the same time, zoom into the human body to the molecular level and beyond. What once seemed scientifically impossible has become commonplace, almost mundane.

It’s not just “old Science Fiction” like Burroughs that runs the risk of being left behind, but new Science Fiction as well. With a greater understanding and knowledge of Science, many consumers are more critical of the depiction of “Sci-Tech” and its effects on society as a whole. Science Fiction writers face quite a challenge to make their stories fantastical while at the same time believable because their readers are less willing to just accept ideas. They are too educated, too knowledgeable, and too experienced to simply press the “I Believe” button. While it becomes harder for Sci-Fi authors, it seems to become more important to consumers.

Even our heroes have shifted more towards Science and less to Science Fiction. As a kid, I wanted to be Luke Skywalker or Buck Rogers. They lived in galaxies far, far away, wielding weapons that ignited my imagination. Given the keys to an X-Wing, I would have been the happiest kid off the planet.

Today, however, there’s no denying that a name on everyone’s lips is Neil deGrasse Tyson. As the current head of the Hayden Planetarium and voice of StarTalk, he is lauded both in the scientific community and on social media. And he is just one of hundreds that are becoming better known as Science breaks new barriers. When Curiosity landed on Mars, my Dragon Brother e-mailed me. “I like the sound of ‘Mrs. Bobak Ferdowsi’” he wrote. "Mohawk Guy" transcended from a-smart-guy-at-a-computer to a sexy icon almost overnight. 

Film and TV have also made the transition from fiction to Science. A Beautiful Mind, The Theory of Everything, and two biopics about Steve Jobs praise the work of brilliant people. And while Dragnet and Hill Street Blues were all about the detectives and cops on the street, CSI has enjoyed a long life, and two spin-offs, focusing on the “lab rats”. Shows like Castle, NCIS, and even Psych almost always spend part of the story explaining the Science behind a murder or crime. The heroes are as much the men and women in lab coats as they are the ones walking the streets, kicking in doors. Even in the recent CW hit, The Flash, the heroes are the Police of the CCPD and the Scientists of STAR Labs as they are Barry himself.

Yet despite all this, Science Fiction seems to still be in the spotlight. Battlestar Galactica was a renowned success on TV, as is Defiance. Star Wars continues to capture the imagination of new generations. Debut author Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice was a resounding smash while Dune, all these years later, remains a cult classic.

Are these examples viable because they are good stories? Absolutely. But I also wonder if they aren’t saved from being cast aside because the Science in them becomes more and more plausible every day. At some point we may have sentient robots, space ships designed for fighting, or nanotechnology that can cure diseases at the atomic level. By being so close to reality, so easy to comprehend, does it make its appeal more universal than ever before?

Time keeps marching forward and with it, humanity’s understanding of our species, our world, and the universe around us. Technology leaps forward exponentially, far outpacing what we once thought possible. And yet we keep reading and watching tales of a future where more questions are answered and life is a little more advanced than today.

So has Science spoiled Science Fiction? Or do we simply keep looking to the future for improvements, hoping that one day reality will surpass our dreams?

*Although we STILL don’t have Hoverboards. Thanks for nothing, modern technology! 


Bio:

Joshua Roots is a car collector, beekeeper, and storyteller. He enjoys singing with his a cappella chorus, golf, and all facets of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. He's still waiting for his acceptance letter to Hogwarts and Rogue Squadron. He and his wife will talk your ear off about their bees if you let them.

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