I’ve touched on this in other blogs, but maybe I haven’t been clear enough – science fiction is not just a game of ‘what if?’ It’s not just for fun or easily dismissed entertainment. It’s also a deadly serious inquiry into scientific possibility and possible futures. The best practitioners of the genre can produce some outright spooky results. Witness Jules Verne, who in From the Earth to the Moon predicted that the trip to the moon would be made from the Florida coast, in a rocket ship carrying three people, on a journey that took three days. Remarkably accurate prediction from a story written a hundred years before the Apollo moon landings. When Verne wrote his novel, the Wright Brothers had not yet flown at Kitty Hawk.
Now, while science fiction (and science fantasy, like Star Trek) have predicted and possibly spurred interest in several of the advanced technologies we have today, this is not really what I mean. Technologies are not really the point of science fiction. Sci-Fi is actually about taking what we already know about science and human nature, and projecting possibilities into the future. It’s the modern version of prophecy. It’s often called ‘futurism’.
A number of science-fiction authors (notably Asimov) have called themselves ‘futurists’, and if pressed on the subject, I would admit to the same. Like many other science fiction authors, I find that I can peer into the future and see both triumph and tragedy. These visions prompt people like me to write out their hopes and fears and disperse them to the general public. The idea being to get others to run toward or away from these possible futures. Sometimes this works – sometimes it backfires.
In an earlier blog, (The Problem of Prediction), I said that the biggest problem in trying to see into the future is not in overreaching, but in a desire to be more conservative in one’s outlook. If the futurist reaches too far, there’s a chance that he could be wrong. But if he is conservative, he will absolutely be wrong. In that same blog I went through my own predictions for the coming years – which I will not go over again. I want to treat a different issue, something I will call ‘The Toynbee Convector’, after a story by the same name from Ray Bradbury.
In his story, Ray proposed the idea that stories are not just fiction for entertainment’s sake. Stories alter the future, by showing us what’s possible – for good or ill – and if enough people believe the story, all of humanity will do their best to conform to the arc of the story. This means that when we tell ourselves positive, hopeful stories about the future, we sow the seeds for a bright tomorrow. But by the same token, when we fixate on stories of urban decay, endless war and the collapse of civilization, we inevitably sow the seeds for a dark and dismal future. What I see all around me at this fragile point of history is exactly that – acres of dystopian fiction and tales glorifying war and murder. We are setting ourselves up for destruction, and we are doing so blindly and willingly. I believe I may have been placed here, at this time in history, to alter it.
That probably sounds like an awful lot of hubris but hear me out. Every singer-songwriter believes that the world can be made right with the application of emotion – ‘All You Need is Love’, and such. Each playwright/screenwriter thinks that by showing us the dark underbelly of society, we can be shocked into cleaning ourselves up. Visual artists are all over the map, trying to show us their individual interpretations of the reality they see. Too many writers, I think, try to follow trends in ‘reader appetite’, in the hope of selling more work. This is certainly a way to make a living as a writer. It is no way to write anything important. And all writers, no matter how jaded or mercenary, wish to write something ‘important’. I am no different. However, massive amounts of money or Best-Seller status have never been a driver for me. I wouldn’t turn down either one, but neither will I seek them out. This, I believe, gives me an edge.
I am no more selfless or altruistic than any other writer. My axes need grinding, same as anyone’s. But I know for a fact that writers are among the most powerful people on the planet. We create stories that go out and inform, uplift and encourage. Or we can create horrors that darken the mind and cast doubt on the future. In either event, writers can and do change the world. My ambition, if you will, is to join my voice to the thousands of others who shine a light on the upward path. As I have said many times before – I want to write the words that others need to read. If that is pride, then I’m willing to endure the fallout.
Many writers want to write epic fantasy. Many others want to write hard-nosed science fiction. I want to write epic science-fiction and hard-nosed fantasy. My intention is to write fantasy novels that show how people can rise up against impossible forces and win. I want to write science-fiction that points a way through the darkness and into the light. It’s a big job, but I think I can do it. I think I have to.
I’m about to take some steps that could kick my writing into overdrive. We’ll just have to wait and see how this thing pans out. Nothing may come of it – I know that. But I feel I have to at least try to change the world into the best one that I can foresee. I’ll let you know.
Be good to each other.
bcd