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Memes and Science Fiction:
Forcasting the Future



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Essays and Lessons on Science Fiction>>Science Fiction Booklists

Apophysis fractal art flame Forecasting the Future:
Memes and Myths of Science Fiction

If... this is the meme that the SciFi Channel, now called SyFy, has taken for itself in its advertising. The ad of 2008 with the dragon creature slipping in and out of mud puddles and playing fetch with the human child is adorable--and comforting. 

Comforting? Yes. Aliens can be our friends.  Others can be accepted into our homes and lives--just as easily as can be the humans who at times are bullying and inimical.  So says the ad in symbiotic form: its meme.

The real magic of this commercial, Star Wars, ET, all of the Star Trek shows, etc., is that science fiction fans, and possibly millions of others, have been pre-conditioned to face an alien unknown without superstition and unnecessary fear.  An alien encounter will not destroy civilization, mire mankind in religious dogma, nor blind us to the possibilities of facing the aliens -- friend or foe -- with reason and sensible judgment.  The images of a mixed society presented by Alien Nation, currently showing several of its 2-hour episodes as movies, demonstrates how it can be done peacefully. 

The BRAS Tree by W Coskrey on computer screen by V CoskreyFor other possibilities, see other movies, shows, or books, as needed.

The science fiction shows do something else.  They allow us to face the real issues of living peacefully with others--whether alien or simply another culture. The term "morality play" has been used to label the episodes and series that are written to foster a look at the cultural issue.  One of the prevailing themes in these analyses is a humanistic approach to the resolution of conflict.  Of course, another theme is the humanistic definition of the issue itself.  The mechanism that drives the plot is often the difficulty in maintaining the humanistic resolution in the face of human emotion, human vices, various cultures, and conflicting goals.  The quintessential example of this conflict is Kirk vs. the Prime Directive, a meme understood by all Trekkies.

Much has been written about the philosophy of science fiction, the science in our favorite sf movies and shows, and about the use of sf as morality plays. I add these words to the growing dialogue on the value of modern science fiction as a literary genre.  Science fiction classics will be as important to our culture as are the current Classics, classical Greek myths, Aesop's Fables, and Grimm's Fairy Tales in expressing goals, values, and emotive concepts to future generations.  These memes today work to bind our culture.  These memes will educate our young, thereby shaping tomorrow. 

Personally, I call science fiction our Myths of the Future. These Future Myths offer memes as powerful as any story of Hercules with the world on his shoulders, Sisyphus forever pushing the rock uphill, or Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy whose love overcomes their cultural pride and prejudices.

This article by Valerie Coskrey ©2009 is a revised copy of one posted on Helium .
Locate the original in the category "understanding what science fiction really is."

Apophysis fractal art flame Alien Jelly by V CoskreyMy List of Science Fiction
that Impressed me the Most

This is hard because I am a huge fan of science fiction, especially the hard sci fi genre. I can maybe narrow the list to the top 5 that influenced out of the hundreds that impressed me. I can list 10 of my favorite authors, directors, movies and books--again chopping the list of hundreds drastically.

10 Works or Authors of Sci Fi that Influenced Me

  1. Heinlein's juvenile books and early political tales
  2. Asimov, Niven, Clark, Hogan, Herbert, and Anderson
  3. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Miller
  4. Little Fuzzy, Piper
  5. Bladerunner, the original movie version, for a vision of a probable future; the Terminator and Star Wars sets for visions of tomorrow
  6. E.T. and Enemy Mine, for the same reasons: tolerance; also Terminator 2 and Monsters, Inc.
  7. Andromeda Strain, the original movie version
  8. Star Trek, both the TV series and the resultant cultural phenomenon; and Star Trek TNG
  9. Modisto, Jr., Anderson, Cherryh and others for appreciating moral dilemmas as complex as The Handmaiden's Tale
  10. The Prince of Mercenaries, Anderson, and On Basilisk Station, Weber, for generating an appreciation of military sci fi

OK. So I cheated. But, you get the drift? There is a certain Gestalt. And my favorites works didn't even make the list of most influential. Hey, you must read Lee and Miller's Liaden Universe series; and Moon's Serrano, Suiza, Vatta, and Pax series; White's Sector General series; Cherryh's Foreigner series; Weber's many series; and the list goes on. Oh, and don't forget the movies and the cartoon movies. Yovay, I could write a book!

I did make a book store from my favorites list of books that I or another teacher have actually read and deemed appropriate for young adults (with or approaching 11th grade reading levels). I throughly enjoyed enjoyed the 90% of the list I read.

I had to make another list of books that for reasons of violence, profanity, or adult themes could not be suggested to students in public schools. The list is ongoing since I am still reading!

Both lists are constantly growing, so I opened an astore to share favorites and more. Here I also list new authors discovered on my Ning networks. (Link takes you to Memes Say it All where I have a list of the science fiction networks on Ning that I, multifacetedval, joined).

modified Apophysis fractal art flame Little Dragon by V. CoskreyThe Title Images: Where did they come from?

Images used with the header titles are modified Apophysis flames developed by Valerie Coskrey. They are part of the VCCTI clip art library. Let us know if they stir your imagination. Please respect the copyright of the images.

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Looking for more reads? Try sci-fi by self-published authors. Or an ebook.

Essay by Valerie Coskrey, ©20 September 2009;

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