Introduction
There is a significant part of the population that appreciates the science fiction. Science fiction is, in fact, a branch of speculative fiction that covers highly imaginative concepts that are often related to the fields of technology, astronomy, physics, and even socio-anthropology. What makes science fiction interesting and highly patronized is that it scratches the humans’ itch for discovering endless possibilities.
After all, humans are avid explorers. They, as a species, tend to focus on something that they cannot get or make, set it as a goal, start a quest to be able to accomplish that goal, and then focus on other un-performable things bringing them back to the same situation over again. It is an endless process. In this paper, the author hypothesizes that science fiction has a huge influence on modern technology in that ideas presented in popularized works of science fiction have almost always been turned into reality a few years later. Using the concepts discussed in The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction and the handout on The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction, the author of this paper defends and rationalizes the said thesis statement.
Discussions
In The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction (2) the author discussed the concepts of Fictive Novums (which means New Thing), Future History, and Imaginary Science. These are the concepts that directly show how science fiction has had an influence on modern technology.
The concept of Fictive Novums tackles the way how humans have a double standard when it comes to change and the process of embracing it. It has been established that man tends to be afraid of and resistive to change; they do not want to go out of their comfort zone. Yet, on the other side of the argument, they are also being described as the most progressive species in this planet. What makes this string of arguments ironic is that the only way to achieve the latter (i.e. to be progressive) is to embrace change. Does this mean that man has double standards when it comes to change? Science fiction tends to have the key to that question. Humans have a great gift when it comes to ideas.
Most of the time, their ideas are based on things that they cannot create or accomplish, which makes sense because why would someone imagine on doing something if he can just simply make it. This can arguably be the paradox that propelled man into the top of this world’s food chain; its hunger for innovation has been fueled by this. Most of man’s imaginations, at least based on what can be observed today, are being communicated via works of fiction.
In the 19th century, for example, no one imagined that there would come a time when man would be able to fly in the sky. Fast forward to the 20th century, the Wright brothers managed to fly the first aircraft and some one hundred years after its invention, anyone in this planet could already fly just by booking flight and buying and airline ticket.
If one is going to back-track the events that happened in the past, it would appear that the concept of Future History is perfectly applicable in answering the question how this version of society managed to arrive at its current state. One example of this would be the development of science fiction subgenres about space travel into a reality. Prior to the first half of the 20th century, nobody knew that man could launch a craft and reach the man and other heavenly bodies. Fast forward to the second half of the same century, the people from the crew of the Apollo 11 expedition managed to land on the moon. Prior to the accomplishment of those feats, man visualized and dreamed of them via works of science fiction.
The same can be true even today, the works of science fiction, no matter how unimaginable and farfetched they may be, would most likely become a reality someday. Now, this does not necessarily mean that a person living today would be able to experience the conversion of the current works of science fiction into a reality within that person’s lifetime because that would somewhat place a time limit for modern technological innovations to develop; what is certain however is that modern technological levels would reach the current point of science fiction one way or the other, at some point in the future. And by then man, would have been dreaming of another marvel or feat, probably by means of science fiction.
Imaginary Science is a concept that explains how man’s ability to imagine playful deviations from reality has enabled their species to progress and innovate. If there is going to be one root of all this, it would most likely be man’s ability to imagine and work their way towards the realization of their imagination.
In one of the works featured in The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction entitled The Journey to the Center of the Earth, for example, the author of the original work Jules Verne wrote a story about how humans stumbled upon huge surprises while they were trying to dig deep underground towards the earth’s center . Although this is something that is not yet achieved or discovered, it still instigates excitement.
This concept or beauty of science fiction enables man to think how society could function differently. In science fiction literary works and films that feature a utopian society where every little need of even a gigantic population of humans get addressed and sustainable existence has already been mastered, for example, most people would be inspired. They would most likely ask the question “why could the current generation of humans not exist like that”. It fuels the fire for idealism and idealism, in a problematic society would always be good because it motivates and unites the people to change the status quo and start living the way how life has been depicted in the works of science fiction.
Conclusions
In conclusion, science fiction has had a huge influence on modern technology in that ideas presented in popularized works of science fiction have almost always been turned into reality a few years later. This can be evidenced by the concepts of Fictive Novums, Imaginary Science, and Future History. Man has always been a creature of progress. Going back in time to check how this group of animals (technically) progressed from living in the Stone Age to living in the Digital Age can be a strong source of evidence for that.
Man has always been imaginative. Science fiction has been used as a tool to express man’s innate ability to imagine and turn its imagination into a reality. The concept of Fictive Novums suggest that radical transformations from the current state of affairs is what fuels most science fiction stories. In the same way, it is also what fuels the much needed motivation and unity to change.
Exposure to works of science fiction enables man to think what could have been; how different it would be if certain changes would be made and developed. And lastly, almost every major invention in this modern age of technology has been a product of science fiction at least once. The airplanes, space travel, and other inventions’ current existence can all be used as a testament to that. These arguments and concepts show how important and high impacting science fiction has been to modern technology and how it has been an effective tool for amplifying the rate of human progression and innovation.
Works Cited
Evans, Arthur, et al. "The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction." Wesleyan University Press (2010): 792. Print. 13 June 16.
"The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction." (n.d.): 01-03. Print. 13 June 16.
