  Fantasy
This week: Speculation Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.
-Baruch Spinoza
Most areas of intellectual life have discovered the virtues of speculation, and have embraced them wildly. In academia, speculation is usually dignified as theory.
-Michael Crichton |
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There are many different types of fantasy and science fiction - some would say as many as there are authors, or as many as there are books.
Fantasy's not so hard to figure out, most times - no matter where or when it's set, there's magic and weird stuff happens.
With science fiction, usually there's science and weird stuff happens.
But there's at least two approaches to science fiction: prediction, and speculation. By "prediction," I don't mean reading tea leaves or goat guts; I mean extrapolation - you can take what's known to science at any time, and make some guesses as to where we're going with it. And by "speculation," I mean the author can add unknowns - intelligent aliens, for example - into the story.
Much of science fiction isn't purely one or the other. Star Trek, for instance, is a combination of prediction (both social and technological) and speculation (what kinds of aliens we might meet).
The reason I bring this up is I think it's important to know what we're reading or writing. It's not enough to be plausible - in fact, much of predictive science fiction appears implausible, such as faster-than-light travel - but the distinction is important.
At its core, science fiction is about people - usually humans, maybe not, but someone to whom the reader can relate. The protagonist encounters things that, to us, are odd. But it makes a difference, in my opinion, whether these situations are the result of scientific discovery and human innovations, or if they're something completely outside of the protagonist's experience.
Know what you're writing. |
Some speculation - or science fiction:
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Last time, in "Fantasy Newsletter (May 6, 2015)" , I talked about how if certain people would just read science fiction, they'd know that certain things were bad ideas.
brom21  : Like you said, a lot of science fact stemmed from science fiction lore. When you mentioned how reviving the woolly mammoth was no more dangerous than a dinosaur, I think your right. On your following comment, think we will soon go too far with technology. We all know the cliché of robots turning on people, but I don’t think many individuals seriously consider the notion; should we?
Seems like every generation thinks the next generation will go "too far" with technology. The idea of artificial intelligence is as old as science fiction itself (which began with Shelley's Frankenstein). One purpose of science fiction is to examine what the possible repercussions of our technology will be.
Steev the Friction Wizurd  : Someone in the comments wrote "...Case in point, when you die people often observably become lucid at the end and have clear cognition..." Seldom true if the person is dying a natural death. I've had several relatives die and they did not suddenly become lucid. They all were unconscious for a period of time before they died. It's only in TV and the movies that the dying person suddenly raises his head and says, "Tell Betty I love her," and then expires.
For something as inevitable as death, there are certainly a great deal of different opinions about what happens.
Quick-Quill  : I love Mysteries at the Museum. I've discovered plot bunnies bounding there. Checking out the large population of deaf on Martha's Vineyard and the beginning of ASL. There are so many ways history has believed in the wierd and fanatical a then sold it to the public who bought it. Dr. Carters Pills, The Hair tonic, Dreaming of the possibilites while using what is around us makes great stories.
Agreed. And we all have different perspectives to share on these topics.
That'll do it for me for this month - see you in July! Until then,
DREAM ON!!! |
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Fantasy: June 03, 2015 Issue [#7025]
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