Truth vs. Fiction - Stranger Danger!
Mark Twain coined the idiom that "truth is stranger than fiction." In the genres of SF and fantasy, that phrase might seem less applicable, but lately I wonder... and worry. I'm currently writing a trilogy about a world where climate change, and a disastrous attempt to geo-engineer a solution to it, turn our hospitable planet into a scary, unrecognizable, and much deadlier place. I used to think this imagined Earth was a fun, fantastical world to explore because it was comfortably remote from our reality. Now, as I read the facts emerging around climate science in the news, I'm not so sure.
Polar ice and glaciers are melting faster than the worst-case scenarios forecast by climate models in the recent past, and that "liquidation of our strategic ice reserve" seems to be accelerating, as if unforeseen feedback loops are amplifying the effects. Species are dying at an alarming rate as well, including species we humans rely on to pollinate our crops. In most cases, we can't definitively link these catastrophic die-offs to climate change because there are too many variables in the mix. And that's the scariest part: we don't have the sophistication at our current level of science and technology to confidently predict what our collective actions will do to the biosphere on which we depend for our survival. Are the SF dystopias of cli-fi over the top... or are they underselling the risks we're all, consciously or unconsciously, accepting?
I think about some of the classic SF stories that have left an indelible impression on my life (and left me contemplating them for a LONG time afterward). Fahrenheit 451 seemed allegorical at one time, but repressive regimes around the world tightly control the media message within their spheres of influence; even in the U.S. of A., we have local governmental bodies banning creative works because of bureaucrats' rigid beliefs or political ideologies. 1984 was dismissed as hyperbolic when that year came and went, but revelations about the NSA's level of visibility into our lives (and - let's not kid ourselves - government agencies in other nations no doubt exercise similar degrees of "citizen surveillance"), and the continuing encroachment of data mining and big data, make this level of control all too plausible. William Gibson's Neuromancer and his other novels paint the vision of a grim future where the lines between real-space and cyberspace blur; in my day job as an information security engineer, I see this fictional world merging with our reality a little more every day.
I no longer dismiss the dark dystopian visions of SF as harmless flights of fancy, nor as cautionary tales full of sign posts that are intended to be more symbolic than predictive. The truth is that we're advancing technologically at a rate far more rapid than our human culture and perception can keep pace. Even our fiction has a difficult time keeping up with the dramatic leaps of fact.
Personally, I don't think we'll realize any of these dystopias by malicious intent. I think, if it happens, it will happen gradually and inadvertently, as we slide down that "slippery slope" of popular cliche, gathering momentum behind the mass of complacency and apathy until we find ourselves unable to slow our descent. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. We "responsible" parents are advised to teach our children to fear the stranger until his identity and motives become clear.
Mindless fear is counterproductive. But rational, actionable fear can be a crucial survival skill. SF has always tried to shine a light into those dark corners of society where the monsters lurk, not just to give us a visceral scare, but to make us think. What kind of world will we make in our shared future?
Together, let's hope we can imagine one that fills us with wonder rather than regret.
Polar ice and glaciers are melting faster than the worst-case scenarios forecast by climate models in the recent past, and that "liquidation of our strategic ice reserve" seems to be accelerating, as if unforeseen feedback loops are amplifying the effects. Species are dying at an alarming rate as well, including species we humans rely on to pollinate our crops. In most cases, we can't definitively link these catastrophic die-offs to climate change because there are too many variables in the mix. And that's the scariest part: we don't have the sophistication at our current level of science and technology to confidently predict what our collective actions will do to the biosphere on which we depend for our survival. Are the SF dystopias of cli-fi over the top... or are they underselling the risks we're all, consciously or unconsciously, accepting?
I think about some of the classic SF stories that have left an indelible impression on my life (and left me contemplating them for a LONG time afterward). Fahrenheit 451 seemed allegorical at one time, but repressive regimes around the world tightly control the media message within their spheres of influence; even in the U.S. of A., we have local governmental bodies banning creative works because of bureaucrats' rigid beliefs or political ideologies. 1984 was dismissed as hyperbolic when that year came and went, but revelations about the NSA's level of visibility into our lives (and - let's not kid ourselves - government agencies in other nations no doubt exercise similar degrees of "citizen surveillance"), and the continuing encroachment of data mining and big data, make this level of control all too plausible. William Gibson's Neuromancer and his other novels paint the vision of a grim future where the lines between real-space and cyberspace blur; in my day job as an information security engineer, I see this fictional world merging with our reality a little more every day.
I no longer dismiss the dark dystopian visions of SF as harmless flights of fancy, nor as cautionary tales full of sign posts that are intended to be more symbolic than predictive. The truth is that we're advancing technologically at a rate far more rapid than our human culture and perception can keep pace. Even our fiction has a difficult time keeping up with the dramatic leaps of fact.
Personally, I don't think we'll realize any of these dystopias by malicious intent. I think, if it happens, it will happen gradually and inadvertently, as we slide down that "slippery slope" of popular cliche, gathering momentum behind the mass of complacency and apathy until we find ourselves unable to slow our descent. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. We "responsible" parents are advised to teach our children to fear the stranger until his identity and motives become clear.
Mindless fear is counterproductive. But rational, actionable fear can be a crucial survival skill. SF has always tried to shine a light into those dark corners of society where the monsters lurk, not just to give us a visceral scare, but to make us think. What kind of world will we make in our shared future?
Together, let's hope we can imagine one that fills us with wonder rather than regret.
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Work in Progress
Random musings from a writer struggling to become an author.
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