Microworlds Quotes

“One of the most incredible secrets of science fiction (although one not too closely guarded) is the fact that 99 percent of its authors do not know even the titles and authors of today's learned works, but still they want to top these scholars with their knowledge of the year 6000.”
― Stanisław Lem, Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy

“As more and more norms disappear from social praxis, literature faces ever-growing difficulties. Its predicament is beginning to resemble that of a child who has discovered that his incredibly understanding parents will let him break with impunity all his toys, indeed everything in the house. The artist cannot create specific prohibitions for himself in order to attack them later in his work; the prohibitions must be real, and hence independent of the writer's choices. And since the relativization of cultural norms has not so far been able to disturb the given characteristics of human biology, that is where writers today seek the still perceptible points of resistance--which is why literature is preoccupied with the theme of sex.”
― Stanisław Lem, Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy

“It is the premise of science fiction that anything shown shall in principle be interpretable empirically and rationally. In science fiction there can be no inexplicable marvels, no transcendences, no devils or demons—and the pattern of occurrences must be verisimilar.”
― Stanisław Lem, Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy

“We today can still talk of a return to nature, because we are relics of it, only slightly modified in biological respect within civilization, but try imagining the slogan ‘return to nature’ uttered by a robot. Why, it would mean turning into deposits of iron ore!”
― Stanisław Lem, Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy

“Science fiction involves the art of putting hypothetical premises into the very complicated stream of sociopsychological occurrences.”
― Stanisław Lem, Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy