Science Fiction Analysis

Understanding Science Fiction as a genre, as well as a device to tell stories that consider a potential future, begins not with understanding science but rather understanding the ways in which humans have and continue to perceive and govern the world. We are a curious species, one that has been innovating existence since the first anthropoid apes and questioning our place in the larger universe since the first remnants of religion. Currently we are at a point in history where we believe our (scientific) understanding of the earth not to be complete, but to be in depth enough to make logical sense of many of the problems that lie in our way as a species, such as disease, poverty, and environmental concerns such as climate change. It is commonly …show more content…
Firstly we will have to give a working definition to “Science Fiction”. In general, it can be difficult to define any genre; “Science Fiction” or “Sci-Fi” is now commonly tacked on to any work with a plot concerning space or extraterrestrial activity. But what is key to Science Fiction goes beyond plot. One of my favorite summarizations of Science Fiction is offered by author and scientist Christoper McKitterick, “Science fiction is the literature of ideas and philosophy, answering such questions as, ‘What if?’ or ‘If this goes on…, ' and is thus sometimes more interested with exploring ideas than developing plot or character, if the memes and ideas under examination are powerful enough to sustain the work.” Thus one of the essential — and frequently overlooked — parts of defining Science Fiction is that it accesses parts of the human imagination that make us consider our common existence in the present as well as the potential future. It is a genre that is just as much — if not more so — philosophical as it is scientifically …show more content…
Aliens, one of the most common themes and characters in Science Fiction are an example of how humans access the mythos in their beings when they create and consume Science Fiction. The varied interpretations and manifestation of aliens in Sci-Fi give insight that we as humans are still curiously looking to the sky and asking the question of, “are we alone?” Where Science Fiction departs from early and divine myth is that it takes place in the possible. This is largely due to our substantial gains in understanding the world and cosmos scientifically as well as our rapid technological advancements since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. We can now use our scientific knowledge to understand that our universe is so vast and immeasurable that the likelihood of humans being the only living civilization is unlikely. So although the aliens and their technologies seen in Science Fiction may be created mostly by writers imaginations, and although the common plot of an extraterrestrial race showing up to Earth unannounced may currently be regarded as improbable, it is undeniably