Science fiction has been an almost compulsive love of mine for most of my whole life and never had I asked myself the question of why. I assumed that it was just "one of things" and while it may have begun that way I think I've discovered it's become more then that, it's now an important part of who I am today. Science fiction is such a broad genre that it was a gateway in to not only the fantastical but also the philosophical.
Science fiction ranges from the fun and action packed (Retribution Falls - novel), the sweet and child friendly (Wall-E - film), philosophical (The Matrix - film), dystopian (Fallout - game), adventurous (Firefly - TV), to the prolific (Nineteen Eighty Four- novel). As shown the genre is broad in its reach and type of story but what the best science fiction can, and should do, is make you think about who we are and the world we're in.
While all stories typically should have this ability this particular genre has an interesting trait that can help in this. It takes place in our future (or close enough, Star Wars uses a simple and playful phrase at it's beginning to make wonder and question what we're about to see). While not all use this trait the ones that take this path have the advantage of placing where our world is right now in direct comparison to where it might be headed. And with this makes us consider if our actions today can lead to the futures we are shown and if so, do we want that?
The Matrix takes place in a future where our own creation, machines with artificial intelligence have defeated us in war and humans exist as living batteries. The few who are free fight for freedom of the rest. The Fallout series is an alternative future where nuclear war breaks out over non-renewable resources and almost everything is wiped out and all that's left is a wasteland with few barely surviving people. A place where if the environment doesn't kill you, some one probably will. In Nineteen Eighty Four there exists a perpetual war and people have all their freedoms, including their own private thoughts, watched by the all seeing Big Brother. We follow one man's struggle to come to terms with his wants and desires in a world where these very things are seen as treason.
These three examples are borne directly from concerns we have today. Artificial intelligence, consumption of non-renewable resources, nuclear warfare, governmental control reaching our very thoughts. It may take place in a not knowable future, a far away planet, even have a nonhuman protagonist but these are all still a reaction to the very things happening around us. Science fiction, when done right, is a commentary on today. It makes us think because in itself the genre is a think piece. It's a "what if" and by asking that question it opens up our minds to asking "how did we get there". It's an opening of a debate relevant to every one alive craftily veiled as simple entertainment.
Science fiction to me can be a lot of fun. I enjoy its idiosyncrasy, it's extremeness, it's style. The very things that may put off many others. This is a shame because the genre led me to something special, perhaps profound. It led me to asking a question that once asked leads to so many more. A question involving "what if", "how" and ultimately, "was this the right thing?". These are personal and internal questions, ones that have never ending implications to our world because, as we discover in many of these stories, our decisions are what shape it. Our world is defined by our decisions (and the people we are) and so should perhaps take more care when we make them.
This is why I today love science fiction. It led me down the rabbit hole by asking a simple question. A question that should always be asked and weighed in equal measure against consequence and opportunity. It's these questions and values that have shaped me into a different person had I not had the opportunity to ask. A cautious and at times cynical person perhaps, but still foolishly excited to see where our future, one we craft, will take us.
