Science topic
Science Fiction - Science topic
Between science and literature
Questions related to Science Fiction
How do you think artificial intelligence can affect medicine in real world. There are many science-fiction dreams in this regard!
but how about real-life in the next 2-3 decades!?
Star Trek: A Study in Ethnic Diversity:
In 1964, Gene Roddenberry wrote a proposal for a science-fiction series. The proposal was influenced both by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and by the popularity of TV Westerns. Roddenberry’s series was to be both a morality tale and an adventure story, and it was to be named Wagon Train to the Stars. The name was later changed to Star Trek based on the earlier pioneer “trekkers.” Star Trek fans are now called Trekkies, or Trekkers. The original Star Trek featured the galactic adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterpriseas they explored the “United Federation of Planets” during the 23rdcentury.
Star Trek was designed to take on such controversies as war and peace, personal loyalty, authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, racism, religion, human rights sexism, and the intergalactic role of economics and technology. William Shatner said that science fiction is like religion in that it tries to explain the inexplicable. In Star Trek, technology and diversity are valued rather than feared, and people work together for the greater good.
Incongruity and Incongruity-Resolution is one of the most recurring themes in humor theory. All of the Alien species in Star Trekare almost human, but not quite. They might have antlers, or pig snouts, or furrowed foreheads, or big brains, or they might even be part human and part machine. And they might be green, or blue with white hair, or have other deviations from human appearances. And the behaviors of Aliens, like their appearances, are both human and non human. They are incongruous (non-human), but their incongruity is close enough to being human that we can easily identify with them. Star Trek Aliens are like “funny” humans. But their “funniness” should not hide the fact that they can be super-logical, super-objective, super-sexual or super-dangerous. Even these hyperbolic attributes can be a bit humorous.
Star Trek is about boldly going where no one has ever gone before, but it is also about how humans ineract with the various ethnic identities that they meet in outer space. Andorians have antennas, blue skin, and white hair. (Cy)Borgs are part machine and part human. They have a “hive” mentality. Susanna Thompson is the (Cy)Borg Queen. Species 8472 communicate telepathically. The Borgs want to assimilate them,
but they are immune to the Borg’s attempts to do so. The Cardassians believe in expansion of the Federation. Gul Dukak is a Cardassian. Armin Shimerman is a Ferengi named Quark. Sofia Boutella is a Jayla. Abd Deep Roy is a Keenser.
The Klingons are belligerent warriors, but one Klingon is member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. His name is Worf. Krall was the captain of the Starship Franklin. When it crashed into a planet, Krall and his crew felt that they were abandoned by the Federation. The green-skinned Orion humanoid women seem to be slaves,
but in truth, their dancing girations have a powerful influence over human males. The Romulans are a splinter group that broke off from the Vulcans. Unlike the other Vulcans, the Romulans refuse to suppress their emotions. Kirstie Allie plays a Vulcan named Saavic in Star Wars. Leonard Nemoy plays Spock, a Vulcan member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise. He knows the Vulcan nerve pinch, and the Vulcan finger signal, He also has the Vulcan ears. His motto is, “Live long and prosper.”
Are we prepared for a possible encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization that may have much more advanced technology than we do?
It is possible that we are being watched by an extraterrestrial civilization that may have much more advanced technology than we do. We humans have been conducting radio listening for several decades to the sounds coming from various corners of the Universe, mainly the closest constellations to our solar system containing other suns and various planetary systems. However, to date, we have not been able to make any contact or receive messages, signals, sounds from our side, which would confirm the existence of another civilization beyond our earthly one. Perhaps more perfect photographs taken with the James Webb Space Telescope will make it possible to diagnose the chemical composition (elements and organic chemical compounds or analogs) that would suggest the existence of other life forms on exoplanets located in other planetary systems, in other constellations, in other galaxies. However, it cannot be ruled out that the first in this regard will be representatives of other technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations created by other intelligent life forms. Perhaps we are being watched by spacecraft or courts sent from distant exoplanets by other intelligent life forms that have built more technologically advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, i.e. having much more advanced space technology, artificial intelligence technology, autonomous robots equipped with artificial intelligence. Specific risks of threats from this to our civilization are not excluded. Some of these risks have been depicted in various science fiction films.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of researchers and scientists:
Are we prepared for a possible encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization that may have much more advanced technology than we do?
What is your opinion on this issue?
Please answer,
I invite everyone to join the discussion,
Thank you very much,
Best wishes,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Dear Performing Arts "Creatives,"
We are starting a lab for all of us to share some ideas. I just uploaded an example of a satirical play--our first Planet Zoom Players work--to show our work.
I hope you will consider joining our lab here at RG/ We at PZP grew out of The Hard-Science Science Fiction Zoom Group.
We have our meetings' guest speakers at the Club channel at YouTube.
Planet Zoom Players (outside Research Gate on YouTube platform) hosts a separate playlist at the Hard-Sci SF Zoom channel.
Find that Planet Zoom Players playlist here.
1) "Rock The Nuclear Clock," futurist satire of our embarrassing addiction to nuclear war and how to solve this non-violently with a quiz show.
2) "The Crystal Egg", adapted by Gloria McMillan from the short story by H. G. Wells.
3) "The Terror out of Space", adapted by the 1940s pulp story by Leigh Brackett. This is in-progress. NOT YET PUBLISHED at YouTube--only the trailer.
We welcome your participation at our Performing Arts lab.
Cheers,
Gloria
I am looking for examples of twenty-first-century films, TV series, comics, and video games exploring the interplay between fiction and reality with an emphasis on worldbuilding and what loosely can be referred to as conspiracy theories. Any titles (including titles of relevant secondary sources) would be greatly appreciated!
Fryderyk
PARADOX
This PowerPoint begins with the Ambiguity Paradox: Everything is ambiguous; however, nothing is ambiguous.” Perhaps all words and sentences are ambiguous, if they are not seen or heard in the larger context. However, the larger context (both linguistic and non-linguistic) resolves almost all of the ambiguities--Except when the speaker is intentionally trying to be ambiguous, as with linguists and politicians.
Then we go on to discuss science fiction and the “grandfather paradox,” and the building which is larger on the inside than the outside, and some “Catch-22 paradoxes,” some visual paradox, and many other paradoxes from the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries as expressed by Montaigne, Beaumarchais, Josh Billings, Henry Wheeler Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Marshall McLuhan, Joseph Heller, Gilbert and Sullivan, and others.
Gilbert and Sullivan often relied on paradox for comic effect. In The Pirates of Penzance, they composed a song about paradoxes:
How quaint the ways of paradox!
At common sense she gaily mocks!
A paradox, a paradox,
A most ingenious paradox!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Poor Fredrick was to be the apprentice on a pilate ship until he was 21. But, by mistake, he became the apprentice on a pirate ship until he was 21.
But he was born on February 29th in a leap year, so he was only five birthdays old. For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I’ve no desire to be disloyal,
Some person in authority, I don’t know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal, Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February, Twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty, One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty.
Through some singular coincidence—I shouldn’t be surprised if it were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy—You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been born in leap-year, On the twenty-ninth of February.’ And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you’ll easily discover, That though you’ve lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays, You’re only five and a little bit over!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho!
"There is neither a past which would change the future nor there is a future which would change the past."
If you are travelling to the past, you are basically travelling forward in time, to your past which in your future however, since this future is already happened in the past way back when you decided to time travel at the first place which indeed lead to this precise moment of you travelling to the past in the future, would have no effect, everything has happened; the past and the future has already happened.
This can be visualize with a circle - there would be neither a starting point nor an ending point for that circle, yet it will NOT loop around.
One thing that most of us completely ignore about Time Travelling precisely about Time Travelling to the past is that "your time" would be ticking completely at a normal rate (for you) when you are travelling anywhere and anywhen in time.
Time Travelling to the future, would make "your time" tick slow relative to others, that means time would "actually" slow down for you - your biological process would slow down and even the travelling of neurons in your brain would slow down, so does the process of thinking, so basically you wouldn't have any idea that time slowed down for you. However, people outside your frame of reference (who are stationary relative to you) can indeed notice the difference in your clock and their clocks.
Time Travelling to the past.
This is a highly mis-conceptualized approach that we always think about WITHOUT considering the basic factors into account. We just believe that it would be possible to travel to the past and interact with the past, as precisely shown in MANY science fictions, however, that is just the human understanding to make the complex impossible thing possible ANYHOW. Anyways, we never consider what would happen to us "biologically" when we travel to the past? Do we age or "de-age"?
If you are travelling to the past, you would still travel "forward" in time, as you would age however, you will be travelling to the past, which is now in "your future" and this future has already happened in the past, so basically it would be the past in the future that was in the past but now is in the future. You would NOT change anything in the future-past but you would create it as it suppose to be.
Your ideas and proposal are welome in this question thread.
Research Proposal Science-Fiction: How a Star Trek (ST) Replicator might actua...
Not to be confuseed with current 3D printing.
This passage occurred in a short story by Isaac Asimov:
"... You're weak on logic, that's the trouble with you. You're like the guy in the story who was caught in a sudden shower and who ran to a grove of trees and got under one. He wasn't worried, you see, because he figured when one tree got wet through, he would just get under another one." — "The Last Question", Science Fiction Quarterly (Nov. 1956).
Does anyone know the source of the folktale to which Asimov was alluding? Or did he just make it up himself?
Dear Readers,
This is the latest news from my ongoing work to help bring the arts into better communications with the sciences. Have you studied Poe's texts that may be considered proto-science fiction (before this term existed?) Please share your work here, as well.
Wolf Forrest will speak at our Hard-Sci SF Zoom group on Jan. 6th and we will then publish that talk on YouTube. DETAILS AS ATTACHMENT.
MORE on Hard-Science SF Zoom project:
We have a Zoom group called The Hard-Science Science Fiction Group. If anybody wishes to be part of this group project or "lab" please let me know via message. I will add you to the list because I don't always rmember to post new talk od plays here. (Too busy.)
We also are involved with the Planet Zoom players, who record Zoom play adaptation of classic SF and then publish these on YouTube. (Many good works were never adapted to film or TV.)
Please add your thoughts on this. Sometimes we in the US miss what other countries and linguistic groups think of Poe.
We would like to discuss the innovative possibilities of Zoom-recorded plays that are then published to YouTube.
SEE our web site and Planet Zoom Players list of plays here:
For example:
Our group, the Planet Zoom Players, have two plays done, the second play, H. G. Wells's "The Crystal Egg," with about 500 views and gaining high praise for its production quality as an animatics video.
Our goal is to bring to attention classic science fiction stories, adapt these to scripts, and make YouTube videos of them. Many people who have read classic science fiction believe that its best works have either never been made into film or video media.Some classic SF texts have been mishandled in the adaptation process.
Please share your thoughts on this important issue in theatre. How do you think this new capability can help our recovery of worthwhile but little know and never adapated fiction?
If you wish to help our efforts via sharing--use my Facebook contact for future communications:
Understanding the evolution of these motifs and themes across diverse cultural and historical contexts enables researchers to discern the ways in which science fiction literature both reflects and shapes the societal and cultural concerns of its time, providing a lens through which to analyze the changing perspectives and values of human societies as they confront new technological and existential challenges.
Do you believe that we as technical writers and researchers may have the transferrable skills it takes to make a career/hobby with novels? Please encourage one another.
Will the black scenarios of the futurological visions known from scence fiction films, in which autonomous robots equipped with artificial intelligence will be able to reproduce and self-improve, come true in the future?
The theoretical basis for the concept of the essence of artificial intelligence has been developing since the 1960s. Since then, black scenarios of futurological visions, in which autonomous robots equipped with artificial intelligence will be able to reproduce themselves, self-improve, become independent of human control and become a threat to humans, have been created in literature and film of the genre of scence fiction. Nowadays, in the situation of dynamic development of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies, the above-mentioned considerations return to topicality.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of scientists and researchers:
Will the black scenarios of futurological visions known from scence fiction films, in which autonomous robots equipped with artificial intelligence will be able to reproduce and self-improve, come true in the future?
Will artificial intelligence-equipped autonomous robots that can reproduce and self-improve emerge in the future?
And what is your opinion about it?
What is your opinion on this topic?
Please answer,
I invite everyone to join the discussion,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Are there people interested in reading classic science fiction plays at RG? (on Zoom)
It is more difficult to connect with fellow playwrights and actors than in the past. But I will try to keep some RG channels open by asking questions.
If you are out there and interested in reading classic science fiction plays, message me at RG.
Some of these old works have had important things to say on climate issues, robots and AI interacting with human society, science as a tool of war of a bringer of peace, scientists as Frankenstein or someone more benign--etc.
Gloria McMillan
For my thesis I'm doing a mixed method analysis of the portrayal of AI in contemporary science fiction films. One of my methods will be a critical discourse analysis of 30 film scenes. I wonder how I can justify film samples, bearing in mind I want scenes where there is textual dialogue between a human and a robot or AI?
Life in space is very likely but millions of light years outside our solar system. On Mars, it may have existed once when there was water on Mars. However, currently, according to current data, life on Mars does not occur. Perhaps life exists in the oceans under the ice on one of the moons of Jupiter, i.e. called Europe (Jupiter II). Jupiter's natural satellite - Europe is the fourth largest moon of Jupiter in the Galilean moons group and the sixth largest satellite in the Solar System. The moon Europa has not yet been thoroughly researched in this matter, so science fiction movies have already appeared, suggesting that there are mysterious forms of life in the oceans of Europe.
Do you agree with me on the above matter?
In the context of the above issues, I am asking you the following question:
Can there be life somewhere in the Solar System outside Earth?
Please reply
I invite you to the discussion
Thank you very much
Best wishes
From a scientific point of view that might not have a great importance, but I need that information for writing the story of a science-fiction movie.
We're writing many complex articles, but most of them are far from real-world applicability.
When we look at the last 100 years, many of the most successful and efficient processes on the paper (in the laboratory) have not been implemented.
As i know , if we can realize the DNA structure , we can simulate it in computer . then we can try to rebuild it if possible .
so Given the technological progress, is it possible in the future?
science fiction, fantacy, animation series and movies are watched by children and a specific group of adults. does it signify any relationship with the personality type/ personality of the adult watching it?
As we all know, Hollywood is well known for predicting new science and technologies since 1920. We always hear a rumour that technologies would be commercialize after they are used and outdated in US military defence. Now I have three questions in my mind
- Is Hollywood writers genius enough to predict the coming technology ?
- Does Hollywood and Defence exchange information?
- Is the Hollywood science fiction writers dictating scientists what to do subconsciously or they are scientists themselves?
Dear RGs your comment and contribution at least on one of these will be appreciated
Artificial intelligence will find application in many fields of services and industries. Currently, among scientists studying AI, the dominating opinion is that the development of artificial intelligence and robotics should not get out of control of humanity. The mentioned escape from the control of the development of artificial intelligence and robotics is understood as gaining independence and independence of the human being - the creator by intelligent machines, robots, equipped with artificial intelligence, able to autonomously and autonomously operate without human control.
In many novels and films of the science fiction genre, these types of black technological development scenarios are presented, in which robots are able to repair themselves, replicate themselves, produce further autonomous robots and rebel against a man, and declare war on a man. The most famous science fiction idea in this topic is "Terminator", "2001 Space Odyssey", etc. In my opinion, this type of science fiction visions will not materialize.
In my opinion, it is still too early to answer this question. In addition, it is not certain whether the humanity will survive until the end of the 21st century in connection with the progressing global warming, so perhaps there will simply be no time for such a far-reaching continuation of technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics.
Do you agree with me on the above matter?
In the context of the above issues, the following question is valid:
Can the development of artificial intelligence and robotics escape the human control?
Please reply
Best wishes
Different types of intelligence are studied and described, eg emotional intelligence is significantly different from classical intelligence. Intelligence is determined by various factors, both genetic and behavioral, developmental. In addition, the development of artificial intelligence, which in my opinion never matches human is done under the control of a human being, which means that the probability of realizing a negative development scenario of this technology presented in literature and film from the science fiction genre is small. It is unlikely that self-perfecting machines, which would be autonomous robots at the same time, would achieve a high level of intelligence, matching human intelligence and would rebel against people as demonstrated, for example, in science fiction movies from the "Terminator" series. Does anyone of you in this matter have a different opinion? If so, why?
Please, answer, comments.
I invite you to the discussion.
Best wishes
Are there futurological estimates when mass autonomous humanoid robots will be manufactured in series?
When mass-produced autonomous humanoid robots will be produced in series, that is, futurological visions known from such science fiction novels and movies as "I. Robot", "AI Artificial Intelligence", "Ex Machina", "Chappie", "Bicentennial Man", "Star Wars", "Star Trek", etc.?
Please reply
I invite you to the discussion
Thank you very much
Best wishes
"Science fiction" is often categorized along with "fantasy." I have never met a scientist who is also a science fiction buff. What is so "scientific" about "science fiction"? Isn't it too incredible and "beyond the pale" to be taken seriously? Instead of adding to knowledge, science fiction is read to escape from reality--don't you agree? Feel free to name the title of a short story or other imaginative work to support your opinion of the value or worthlessness of "science fiction"!
Dear Colleagues,
I am a liaison (informal) at my university between science and the arts. I have family in planetary astronomy but this is far afield.
LINK to VIDEO: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/01/largest-gaseous-structure-ever-seen-in-our-galaxy-is-discovered/
A question or two:
What does this newly-reported Radcliffe Wave of gaseous proto-stars tell us about how our galaxy originated?
Is there any chance that this wave will make some difference in our own sun's behavior?
The following links demonstrate actual science and (like allways) at first their great fields of application. But like so many scientific results in the past, there is a huge potential for misuse and manipulation of mankind. What do you think about? May we live in harmony with nature someday or do we manipulate us to death someday?
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/01/07/1910837117 (original paper)
https://cdorgs.github.io/ (summary of application perspectives)
How do we best classify ethical issues in AI and robotics? Which disciplines provide possible classification frameworks i.e. philosophy of ethics, psychology of moral reasoning, the law and human rights, the study of etiquette, sociology of norms, control systems theory, neuroscience of impulse regulation, science fiction, etc. etc.
Many possibilities - can you point me in the direction of any possible frameworks?
An interesting article by Geraci (2007) works with an early twentieth century theological claim that human reactions to the (perceived) presence of the divine is hallmarked by a conjunction of fear and allure. Geraci (2007) argues that SF literature by Philip K Dick, William Gibson and others (I would add Cordwainer Smith to the list) has positioned human reactions to advanced technology as reflecting a similar species of fear and allure in order to explore various themes.
Is anyone familiar with more recent publications on this or a related investigation of SF and religion?
I've recently heard about this new material called Quantum Stealth which is supposed to be a 'Invisibility cloak' . Apparently the material bends light waves around a target which allows complete invisibility. Is all this true?
Actually, the reason we can see objects is because light reflects from them or because light is modified in some way travelling through them. Water, for example, is transparent but we can see it because it both reflects some light and refracts light through it from objects immersed. If we want to hide an object then, ideally, what you do is take light from one side of the object and bend it around it.
Can we do this? Well, in theory, yes. One way is to have a series of cameras on one side of an object and light sources, like an HD TV on the other. You basically take a photograph of what lies behind one surface and project that onto the opposite surface. This is very hard to do for multiple surfaces because you need each of them to have lots of cameras and lots of light emitters and the sheer amount of data is astronomical.
What you might be able to do instead is develop materials that can guide light around the object. Instead of photographing and re-emitting light, you use the original light and just bounce it in a clever way to get it to emerge on the opposite side of the object. This is definitely possible, we can do it already with fibre optics, but the problem is complexity and cost.
Theoretically, I have attached a recent paper explain how it can be.
Actually, I found many websites speaking about it like;
Let us discuss this interesting issue.
Time travel is very common in science fiction movies and novels
The only concern of time travel is – can we travel in the past? Traveling to future is not an issue. We are all travelling to future naturally.
Can we travel back to our past?
Why are there still pseudo-scientific conspiracy theories that undermine obviously confirmed facts and scientific knowledge in the present era of publicly available large amounts of scientific knowledge?
Why in the present age of computerization, the digitization of knowledge resources and the huge scientific knowledge available on the Internet are still created pseudoscientific conspiracy theories, sometimes absurd claims of the type that the Earth is flat, that evolution is a fiction, that some people are aliens from outside the Earth etc.? For what reason and for what purpose are these types of irrational pseudoscience theories created?
Please reply
I invite you to the discussion
Thank you very much
Best wishes
Hn order to solve problems in physics, onas e can define time as field which is function of mass and velocityIf we can solve accurately any problem without defining time as a dimension why should we enter into fiction.. ow did it help physics by defining time a dimension. We know very well that it is not possible to do time travel. It is just a science fiction. Was it helpful to solve physics problem. I
Is there a promise of technologies and inventions that will be developed in the future in novels and films of the science fiction genre?
In my opinion, in many science fiction movies you can find a preview of future inventions and technologies that will be implemented on the industrial scale. this is one of the main features of science fiction novels and movies.
In view of the above, the current question is: Is there a promise of technologies and inventions that will be developed in the future in novels and films of the science fiction genre?
Please, answer, comments. I invite you to the discussion.
As a long-term reader of Sci-Fi, I have to say that todays Genres seem slightly light on the science It is as if by mapping all the outrageous theories in the 70's and 80's people now think that no new science has arisen that can capture the imagination, like early stories of space-flight, FTL, and White Radio. Yet science didn't stop in the 80's, and with the internet it is possible to find really good scientific resources to act as support data for a new genre. Instead it seems that Space Opera, and similar formula fiction is the staple of the industry, and new science just doesn't have the draw it used to. Where are the stories of Astro-Archeology that celebrate the guy with the brush, that uncovers the extremely fragile fossil? Where are the stories of Scientific Politics as a background for astounding discoveries? Where is the non-humaniform alien that isn't cat-like or soft and fuzzy, or lizardlike and subtly menacing? Do only stereotypical aliens survive the marketing process?
Will artificial intelligence combined with the analysis of data collected in Big Data database systems be used in automated forecasting of valuations of securities and other assets on capital markets?
In the background of the plot of the film "Transcendence" from 2014, directed by Wally Pfister, the topic of analysis is analyzed by a computerized system combining artificial intelligence with human consciousness loaded into a computerized system of artificial intelligence connected to Internet resources and using the resources on its own.
This independence also means access to various databases, including internal Big Data database databases belonging to certain corporations, including listed companies that are issuers of securities.
The artificial intelligence connected to the Internet, according to a specific strategy, also independently conducts transactions on the market of valuable securities.
In addition, it establishes statrtsets offering innovative technologies, which in a short time become large capital companies characterized by a high capitalization of exchange quotations of shares of these companies listed on stock exchanges.
The above-presented film "Transcendence" presented above picture of integration of artificial intelligence, human consciousness and Internet resources is a picture of typical science fiction.
However, on the other hand, the function of this image is also to inspire to discuss the potential possibilities of integration of the above-mentioned elements into one system of autonomous and working in the Internet resources artificial intelligence, in addition also containing some human feelings.
The above image from the movie "Transcendence" became an inspiration to formulate the following question below.
The mentioned motif from the movie "Transcendence" looks impressive and convincing in this film mainly because it has a full spectrum of innovation.
The use of new, innovative instruments for forecasting specific economic categories usually works until these innovative instruments continue to be innovative, ie until they are disseminated to the majority of participants in specific markets.
In view of the above, I am asking you to answer the following question: Will artificial intelligence combined with the analysis of data collected in the Big Data database systems be used in automated forecasting of valuations of securities and other assets on capital markets?
Please, answer, comments. I invite you to the discussion.
In their 2011 text, Teaching Science Fiction, Andy Sawyer and Peter Wright posit that science fiction is "one of the most effective genres for challenging the perspectives of a student body" (1). Yet Teaching Science Fiction is one of the few recent compendiums on teaching speculative fiction; the last significant scholarly focus on speculative fiction and pedagogy was in the 1970s and 1980s. The majority of publications after 2000 on teaching science fiction consider the teaching of science through science fiction. Very few of the more recent texts consider how instructors of science fiction might engage with concepts of social justice, or how instructors who teach social justice concepts could do so by engaging with speculative fiction literature.
The last decade has seen incredible progress in a genre that has been fraught with racism and sexism at least as much as it challenges it. With the mainstream success of Black Panther, N.K. Jemisin's ouevre, Janelle Monae's music and videos, Tomi Adeyemi's book and movie deals, and Netflix series such as Black Lightning, it is clear that the authorship and readership of speculative fiction is changing.
Moreover, instructors in literature and the cognate disciplines are already - and have been for some time - teaching social justice concepts through speculative fiction. However, there is little scholarly conversation about why and how we do it, how to teach social justice through speculative fiction more effectively, or how to have successful conversations with administrators about teaching social justice through speculative fiction.
Proposals on secondary education and teacher education are particularly welcome.
Is Science Fiction studied in your country/region, for instance? If so, how?
Is solar geoengineering frightening science fiction or bona fide scientific research that someday might provide the tools for staving off catastrophic climate change? Does humanity still have a choice between such extreme and risky schemes and reduction of emission? Are we willing to shoulder the economic burden now, or are we going to wait until we have no alternative to such strategies?
It has been said that our contemporary experience is that of the "lived dystopia" of Modernity. This social imaginary directly confronts the narrative of the "imminent threshold", the point of no return set in the near future, beyond which environmental degradation and other social problems are portrayed as definitely intractable. This question bears directly on our understanding of political hope in the present World: Should we hope to avoid the imminent catastrophe, or should the domain of hope rather be focused on coping with a dystopia that is already here?
Feeding knowledge directly into your brain, just like in sci-fi classic The Matrix, by a simulator which can feed information directly into a person’s brain and teach them new skills in a shorter amount of time, comparing it to “life imitating art”. I think inventing a devive that feed skills directly into a person’s brain is little far from believing . But what if build a device that stimulates some parts of a person's brain that related to the new skill that person is learning .so ,that person by using such a device could learn that new skill in very shorter time.
Anthropologists generally study behaviors that persist in human groups. The invention of print media gave a new area for the preservation and transmission of cultural values.
Literature, specifically, the growth in the 19th C. of the gothic novel introduced a certain kind of female response to danger. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein began the practice of women writing in previously male-only areas of culture such as the natural sciences. Shelley introduces self-reflection regarding the ethos of the actor, Dr. Victor Frankenstein.
Since that time, it has not been uncommon for genre literature to teach as overt lesson or subtext how to behave in the world. Genre literature can operate beneath the radar of dominant cultural norms and strike a different path via various styles of social satire (e.g., H. G. Wells' Eloys and Morlocks in The Time Machine.)
What theory tracks how genre (SF, fantasy, horror) literature trains the young to become adults in their culture?
Or do some genre messages teach alternatives to growing up and an escape from the norms of the socially-constructed, gendered group?
Adolescents in the industrialized world and elsewhere have vast resources in print and electronic texts. They spend large amounts of time reading of playing themed games that use tropes developed in stories.
What are these messages for living and what theories study this role of genre literature?
I am looking for examples of interdisciplinary work/researchers who explore the relevance of fantasy and science fiction literature beyond the text, so how it can impact lives, promote wellbeing.
Many of us have seen "Star Wars". Many of us like one of its main heroes - Luke Skywalker. He is ranked #14 among fictitious characters, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Skywalker
But the question is this: where does his power and strength come from? Clearly, he was born talented. He also has passed the magic school of Jedi. And he fights for good and against evil.
Is the magic education a necessary component of strength? Does fighting for good bring more power? (But there are examples of jedi who served evil)
This question stems from a recent comment made by Guillermo del Toro, regarding his creation process: "A lot of people, when they design creatures, they reference [other] creatures. And that's the worst thing you can do, because then you're going to regurgitate somebody else's process and that's it." (on Vice News, Dec. 5 2017). This comment got me thinking about whether or not the same thing could be said about the creation of fictional societies and cultures. More often than not, they reference existing or historical cultures and societies. This practice has sparked many debates over the years, touching on the politics of representation, cultural appropriation, historical revisionism, or the 'right to dream' of other places and other times. But what are the alternatives? For the sake of argument, let's explore other avenues, other non-human sources of inspirations that have, or could, serve as templates for creating fictional societies and/or cultures. Animal behavior is an obvious candidate here, and we could think of a number of examples in which they have served as inspiration for authors. But machines too ; the movies "Tron", for instance present a society inspired by the workings of a computer. Can you think of other examples?
Worldbuilding has become a topic of interest in many fields. Literature, media studies, game studies are addressing it as a creative process. Social sciences are reflecting on how it relates to the construction of political possibilities. In your opinion, what are the best works bridging these two perspectives on Worldbuilding?
Utopia as been called "the adventure of the West". Some scholars limit its analytical relevance to Western modern discourses. They argue that "back-dating" the concept to apply it to discourses anterior to the publication of Thomas More's work (1516) is anachronistic and expanding its scope beyond Western thought is ethnocentric. On the other hand, substantial scholarship sees utopia not as a specific "content" or mode of discourse, but rather as an "impulse" (E. Bloch) or a "desire" (F. Jameson) for social change, found in many societies and in many times. What do you think?
I am no physicist, but I am a writer and a fan of SF. The Bose-Einstein Condensate is surely one of the most fascinating 'artifacts' to be produced in recent years and may have significance in as wide-ranging fields of enquiry as consciousness to safe energy.
I want to write (or rather complete) a novel that explores these possibilities, but I want to stray as little as possible from current theoretical models, whilst indulging myself and the reader with some of the fantastical explorations true to the spirit of SF.
Can anyone help me? A sufficiently great contribution will entitle my collaborator to acknowledgement, if not the title of co-author.
I have started a Project [The Bose-Einstein Condensate (A Novel] and one Bench [Drafts]
Science fiction as a genre is only flourishing in the western world. What are the possible reasons for this? What do you think? Lets have a discussion on the topic.
In 1994, physicist Miguel Alcubierre proposed a new kind of technology that would allow us to travel 10 times faster than the speed of light, without actually breaking the speed of light. This sounds confusing. Do you Agree?
I need books to compare the influence of the three laws in literature.
