Science Fiction Fan

I enjoy science fiction.  I really don’t understand why some people can’t.  Einstein said that the “true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.”  To me that proclaims that what human’s can dream up, is close to what human’s have achieved.  It keeps us looking to a future that might be, and inspiring those who have the knowledge to put it all together.

Even if some of it is escapism, such as John Carter, it still has some significance.  The ability to sit back and enjoy someone else’s vision has such interesting artistic merit.  Star Trek was a great place to have people think about what the most promising theories now could look like in the future.

Sci-fi has been around for what seems like Eons.  John Carter is a story from 1912.  War of the Worlds was written back in 1898....  The Time Machine, another great science fiction novel was even earlier.

But when they get it right, it can be scary.  Even though it was just fiction, there was a book, which I can’t remember the name of...,  written about a submarine blockade of the British Isles, and soon after in WWII, Hitler performed similar maneuvers.  The original series of Star Trek, if you watch it, has all sorts of ideas that have been carried through today.

Luckily not everything has such sinister appeal, but most do have conflict.  Star Wars is about a war that spans an entire galaxy, that involves heros and villains and all sorts of right and wrong.  Watching Avatar, I find it hard not to get caught up in the flying scenes.  Avatar in its own right, is many stages of art.  The creation of the world to look so amazing was unbelievable.

Some Science Fiction goes back in time, to relive a past that never was.  The Lord of the Rings was written with the express intent to give England a history that was lost in the dark ages.  Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is something amazing as far as it being broken down into a wheel that constantly rotates, and the book is just one of the Ages that have happened before or after our own Age.

Sure, there is NOTHING quite like sitting by a river, inside a T-Rex foot print.  Looking directly at a direct link to the past.  But there is also nothing like having a story in your head, and sharing it with someone who is moved deeply by the imagination of it.

One can argue that there is a glut of the same ideas out there.  I mean, has the best Vampire novel been written yet?  There are so many takes on the fictional creatures, and some people take them to a form of delusional reality, but the point of the best Vampire novel being written is entirely debatable.  Although some would argue the worst ones have been written....

All in all, its best to look at Sci-Fi with a fresh mind.  To enjoy it for its artistry.  Doctor Who is an amazing show that pushes the boundaries of what is believable, but gives us characters, situations, and stories that are completely moving experiences in each an every way.  All I know is, I will enjoy all the genre has to offer for as long as I can.  Because its fun, its tragic, its wonderful, and it truly is beautiful to see what the human mind can imagine.

–Dan