Teddy Wecker

Saturday May 16, 2020

ITAL 2500

The Importance of Science Fiction: A Manifesto

The importance of reading, watching, and creating works of Science Fiction in the modern world cannot be overstated, as it’s works are investigative analyses of the real world we live in. This manner of re-describing the present into a fictional future allows works of Science Fiction to provide points of view about the real world through the organic observation of the reader in an often, at least somewhat, believable setting. Furthermore, they allow for both commentary on the societal level and exploration of the human condition. Many might dismiss the entire genera as escapist, or even immature. Science Fiction, I will argue, is anything but.

My Manifesto for Science Fiction:

1. Works of Science Fiction must continue to be produced
2. Works of Science Fiction must continue to be read
3. Works of Science Fiction must continue to be watched
4. Science Fiction provides a critical lens through which we can look back upon our society
   1. Critiquing the past is easy, critiquing the present is hard
5. Science Fiction allows for explorations into the human condition unachievable by other, similar genera
6. By dismissing Science Fiction as an inferior genera we not only deprive ourselves of what it has to teach us, but we are destined to lose the ability to critique ourselves

This Manifesto will support points 1, 2, and 3 constantly, as that is its primary objective. Therefor I will move abruptly to points 4-6, and provide support for the validity of 1-3 throughout.

4. Science Fiction provides a critical lens through which we can look back upon our society

            Works of Science Fiction set in unfamiliar, far off worlds are rarely set in worlds which are truly unfamiliar. Instead it is the nature of the genera to comment on reality, and its settings are often reflections of the real world with some aspects taken to a point of extreme. Of this commentary on the present, there are two sub-themes which carry messages particularly important for society to understand about itself, these being: “what will happen if we go on like this?” and “how would we react if this ever were to happen?”

Beginning with the first question, an early observation should be that the modern world enjoys many technological luxuries. Arthur C. Clarke defined Science Fiction as “Something that could happen – though you usually wouldn’t want it to,”[1] this definition seems particular fitting as personal entertainment, transportation, powerful nations, and comfortable living are just a few which will become applicable. These luxuries are hardly pure in their existence, with nearly every comfort enjoyed by the modern citizen of a first-world country. It is vitally important, as many learned in kindergarten, to take responsibility for your actions and understand that there will be repercussions. How then to teach about the possible repercussions of the actions of the modern citizen? How to communicate the dangers of pollution, weapons of mass destruction, infatuation with personal entertainment, or modern xenophobia? This brings the sub-point:

4. a. Critiquing the past is easy, critiquing the present is hard.

            Provide people with a cautionary tale from history, it will be immediately dismissed through the fallacy of a superior modern intellect. Teach them about the modern situation and people become bored or insulted, few are interested in hearing how their way of life is harmful. Science Fiction provides the manner to critique the present through a critique of the future.  Since there is no doubt that those in the future will be smarter than us, nor is there any direct criticism of the present-day individual, it is received and able to be digested. This is the trope of the “cautionary tale,” asking the question: What will happen if we continue down this path? For example, what will happen if we don’t control our addiction to personal entertainment? Lino Aldani’s 1973 “Goodnight Sophie,” imagines a world of personal entertainment addiction where love and sex are replaced by the thrill of living vicariously through actors in virtual reality movies, a mere novum for 1973 when the work was written. The story imagines a grey, sad future where people stay inside simply because they know there is nothing for them that could be better than their virtual-reality video players.[2]

Though cautionary tales for the future often revolve around new inventions of the time, they are not always positive changes in the short term. In 1962 Julian Kawalee wrote “I Kill Myself,” a story about a scientist’s desire to destroy a weapon of mass destruction being overcome by the allure of the power the weapon would grant him.[3] The story is a product of the nuclear age, the world had recently held witness to the atom bomb and the cold war was going strong[4]. Reading stories like this with a new historicist viewpoint is essential, the time period the story was written provides great insight into not only the true intended meaning of the story but also the sentiment of the time it was written. Even today, long after the cold war has ‘ended,’ this story carries weight and reflects the how nations can become intoxicated with the allure of absolute military power with a nuance nonfiction editorials could only dream of capturing. The eventual end of such a future is depicted in Ray Bradburys “There Will Come Soft Rains,” an almost poetic piece painting a picture of a perhaps not-so-distant future of nuclear holocaust[5]. Bradburys work was also inspired by the atom bomb, written in 1950, and works as perfect example of a cautionary tale for the future. The story subtly outlines how if we continue to build the tools of our own destruction, a total nuclear holocaust is almost inevitable. The argument is made, however, by presenting the reader with a very intimate presentation of the end of human life on earth as a result of its technological advancement. This is why Science Fiction is so crucial; if people are not thinking foreword about the limits of humanity, telling cautionary tales and considering the ends of our means, then we are doomed to not only repeat old mistakes but invent new, easily avoidable ones. It is imperative that as a global society humanity is constantly considering the possible outcome related to continuing down its current path, Science Fiction is the medium in which it is done.

Not only is science fiction used to look to how humanity might change in the future, but also to reflect on how we might respond as a society to events in the future. These pieces are still a product of their time, exposing the worries of people at different points in history, but they are also the product of where and by whom they were written. One fairly common trope is “doomsday,” exploring how humanity would respond to the end of the world. For two examples unified in topic look at “Mono No Aware” by Ken Liu and “The Star” by H.G. Wells. Both have a very similar premise: a large body in space is moving towards the planet very quickly, and the all life on Earth will either be killed soon or is already dead.[6] [7] While this trope is explored in the cautionary tale style of stories, the way it is explored here is wholly different. The world ending is, importantly, beyond human control with the only decision humanity having is how to respond. In “The Star,” H.G. Wells describes first skepticism then mass panic, before the eventual deaths of everyone on an entire hemisphere. The aim of his story was to point out the insignificance of humanity on earth, and the lack of control we possess over our own universe. “Mono No Aware” also speaks of mass panic, but a key difference is that this story focuses not on humanity as a whole but on the way different nations react to doomsday. America panicked, Japan was calm, both tried and mostly failed to launch spacecraft to save their citizens. Ken Liu also paints a picture of insignificance, satirizing such practices as saying the pledge of allegiance after the world has ended, but focuses heavily on personal interactions and, especially, the reactions of different cultures. Without works of Science Fiction like these humanity would never be called to question its hypothetical resolve, and rarely would people look beyond the present and past for insight about their society or culture. How the world reacts to a no-win situation is a common theme in Science Fiction works, and it is a vitally important one.

5. Science Fiction allows for explorations into the human condition unachievable by other, similar genera

            In addition to looking at the experiences of large populations, certain types of Science Fiction works have a way of looking intimately at the psyche of an individual. Typically, works which focus on the interactions between people or the human experience over a big-picture future are known as “soft” Science Fiction, and there are many examples that provide insight to the human experience. This is foundational to Science Fiction, as the perspective it allows its readers and writers to achieve when thinking about these topics is one that can be both extreme and unique. Some stories manage even to analyze both the big and small picture of the future, “The Future is Blue” for example tells a story leaning on the trope of environmental apocalypse. The people in the story live on a giant island of garbage, and the piece showcases how the values of individuals might change after such a disaster as the oceans rising, an idea clearly inspired by recent climate events.[8]

Though “The Future is Blue” touches on both, in most cases the focus falls either on the society or the individual. In this case, the society is often a backdrop to further explore the human experience, the short film “World of Tomorrow” by Don Hertzfeldt in a prime example.[9] This film is, in my opinion, the epitome of Science Fiction’s ability to describe the human condition. The film describes a life in the future where minds are re-downloaded into clones allowing people with some wealth the ability to live forever. The film masterfully presents a world of immortality populated by humans who were not made to live forever, and examines the emotional toll living for hundreds of years might take on a person. The story causes the viewer to question the true appeal in living forever, a proposal that at face value is perhaps the most appealing thing you could offer a person.

6. By dismissing Science Fiction as an inferior genera we not only deprive ourselves of what it has to teach us, but we are destined to lose the ability to critique ourselves.

One of the most common dismissals of Science Fiction as a genera is that it is childish, escapist, or perhaps filled with alien monsters with nothing real to say. This sentiment is a rooted in its pulp magazine origins, though today couldn’t be further from the truth. Even thinking of the genera as escapist fails entirely to realize how rooted in our reality it is, or how strong an influence Science Fiction and the real world hold over each other.

What other medium could cause people to question their most basic desire to not eventually die? Moreover, what other medium could present such a theme in a way that is relatable and understandable without mentioning a God or some other detail bound to alienate its consumers? The argument is, none. Science Fiction provides a window to the human soul unlike any other, where readers and viewers can dissect the details of the subjects psyche in a world they can understand. Sam Maskowitz said of Science fiction that it “is a branch of fantasy identifiable by the fact that it eases the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’ on the part of its readers by utilizing an atmosphere of scientific credibility for its imaginative speculations in physical science, space, time, social science, and philosophy.”[10] This couldn’t be more accurate, a large part of the reason Science Fiction is so successful in presenting often easily digestible analysis of the human condition is that it does not get bogged down in the fantastical details of a fantasy world. Its novums are often at least somewhat logical, grounding the reader and allowing for a far more focused analysis than fantasy works could ever hope to achieve. I’ll say it: a commentary on the human condition through the lens of our interaction with computers, for example, is better than elves and dwarves being racist towards each other.

To conclude this manifesto, I will circle back to the beginning. Of all the details I have discussed related to perspectives on society and individuals one thing unifies them: Science Fiction provides a medium for its consumers and creators alike to be critical of both ourselves and the world around us. It causes us to call in to question aspects of our lives in a way no other genera could. Because of this, it remains vitally important that works of Science Fiction continue to be created and consumed long into the future.

[1] Saiber, Arielle. “WSF 2020 class 2 definitions, wells, Asimov, Simak” ITAL 2500. 29 January 2020. Bowdoin College. Microsoft Power Point Presentation.

[2] Aldani, Lino. “Goodnight Sophie.” The Science Fiction Century, edited by David G. Hartwell. Tom Doherty Associates Inc, 1997, 352 – 368.

[3] Kawalee, Julian. “I Kill Myself.” The Vintage Anthology of Science Fiction, edited by Christopher Cerf. Alfred A. Knopf Inc. and Random House Inc, 1966, 260-267.

[4] Timeline of History – 20th Century at a Glance, www.dudeman.net/history.html

[5] Bradbury, Ray. “There Will Come Soft Rains.” The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction, edited by Arthur B. Evans, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr, Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, Rob Latham, and Carol McGurik. Wesleyan University Press, 2010, 234-240

[6] Liu, Ken. “Mono no Aware.” The Future is Japanese, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington. Viz Media LLC, 2012, 11-32.

[7] Wells, H.G. “The Star” The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction, edited by Arthur B. Evans, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr, Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, Rob Latham, and Carol McGurik. Wesleyan University Press, 2010, 39-49.

[8] Valente, Catherynne M. “The Future is Blue.” Drowned Worlds, edited by Jonathan Strahan. Rebellion Publishing Ltd, 2016, 353-381.

[9] World of Tomorrow. Directed by Don Hertzfeldt, Performances by Julia Pott, Winona Mae, and Sara Cushman, Bitter Films, 2015.

[10] Saiber, Arielle. “WSF 2020 class 2 definitions, wells, Asimov, Simak” ITAL 2500. 29 January 2020. Bowdoin College. Microsoft Power Point Presentation.

https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=aa8b3eb88143e0f8226245d16b403a45&view=Cirrus&stopList=keywords-d5f4ebe4b9b6f5743038c35b188319d7&whiteList=&visible=45

https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=aa8b3eb88143e0f8226245d16b403a45

Unsurprisingly, the two most commonly appearing words in my documents were “Science” and “Fiction.” The thing that surprised me most was the prevalence of the phrases “Star Trek” and “Star Wars.” I was surprised since I only made one post explicitly talking about Star Wars, and Star Trek was only referenced to support other points I was making. Perhaps the common appearance of these phrases illustrates how impossible it is to discuss the genera of SF without mentioning either one, seeing how they often appear in articles totally unrelated to the works themselves. I was also surprised how the word “space” appeared more than the word “future.” many works of SF see space as the future, so perhaps in a way they are one and the same, though I still would have thought that the word “future” would appear far more often than it did. My most frequently appearing words, in order of frequency, were fiction, science, star, war, and space. This I think gives insight that the things I was concerned with researching in the greatest depth related more to mainstream SF than I had realized, as well as how prevalent franchises like Star Wars are, as I discussed earlier.

One thing I’ve come to notice in SF from many different eras and subgenera is the theme of war and conflict. Seemingly transcending all else, themes of violence on a grand scale find there way into many different types of SF from short stories and novels to movies and television.

One reason this is the case is due to the immense technological progression surrounding wars. Powered flight, for example, was first achieved in late 1903. By 1939 both the first pressurized aircraft and first jet aircraft were zipping through the skies. Less than ten years later, the sound barrier was broken. In the brief span of 63 years humanity went from two bicycle engineers at Kitty Hawk to standing the surface of the moon, and what defined those 63 years was largely war. WWI , WWII, and the Cold War progressed technology so rapidly that many of the things we take for granted today are byproducts of combat. This rapid progression inspired generations of SF writers, in particular the creation of the atom bomb. Such developments as these lead authors to wonder how the technology of the future might change wars, and what sort of wars will be fought.

The nature of wars depicted in SF are also of note. For example, in a space-faring world in most cases fighting over land on earth doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Authors imagined alien invasions, inter-galactic conflicts, and more to show what type of conflicts may arise in the future. Humans fighting each other, or humanity banded together against some larger external threat.

The nature of future wars has long been considered by SF writers and future-thinking people. Thomas Edison once said that the only “way to make war impossible is for the nations to go on experimenting, and to keep up to date with their inventions, so that war will be unthinkable, and therefore impossible.” (this is quoted from https://www.depauw.edu/sfs/backissues/64/gray.htm , where the specific citation can be found)

One thing that has long interested me, though that I have never taken the time to properly study, is religion. Both my parents got their degrees in religion so my house was always full of books talking about Islam, the life of Jesus, Hindu Gods, Judaism, and more. Though not particularly religious myself, a culturally focused reform Jew, these faiths, their differences, and their stories have long interested me.

Many years ago I watched Battlestar Galactica for the first time, it’s since been one of my favorites but I remember distinctly being particularly surprised at the way religion was used in the show. The humans prayed to a pantheon of gods stemming from the belief that their ancestors migrated to 13 planets (Earth included) from one original home world where humanity lived with these gods by the names of Athena, Hera, etc. Their core belief is that the scriptures are real, and that “all of this has happen

ed before, and all of this has happened again.” The Cylons (the evil (kinda) robots) pray to one true god, and believe that everything that transpires is part of Gods divine plan. The funny thing about the show is that at different times both religions are shown to be true. They (spoilers) find a magical planetarium with the map to Earth in a tomb of the human Gods, and things foretold by the human scriptures come to be literally true. At the same time, a human under the influence of the one God is able to know things that it is inconceivable he would already know if the messenger from God (a vision of a woman Cylon) hadn’t told him.

This, in combination with readings we’ve done in class with heavy religious imagery, made me wonder how SF deals with religion on a grander scale. What are the themes surrounding it’s inclusion and use?

In my research I found lists upon lists of SF stories in all sorts of media using religious themes or imagery. These ranged from frictional religions in Star Trek and the devil in Doctor Who, all the way to” 2112″ by Rush and short stories by Octavia Butler.

One article discussed a general shift in SF writing, discussing how pre-WWII alien religions were generally written as being foolish or misguided. Post-war, however, the attitude shifted to their religions being spiritual beyond the realm of human comprehension. The article also discussed how in the 1950s SF began experimenting with a dei

ties point of view, and spoke about the experiences of Phillip K. Dick.  There are even real-world religions with their roots in SF, just look at scientology.

But WHY include these themes? I found another article by the World Religion News discussing religion’s place in SF (link here: https://www.worldreligionnews.com/entertainment/religions-place-science-fiction) but honestly I didn’t find it very helpful. The article focused on mainstream SF movies and asked many of the same questions I am trying to find answers to, without answering them.

I think Religion is one of those things where t

he answer is “It depends.” Different authors in different stories have different goals with their portrayals of religion, and whether religion is found in themes or center stage varies greatly.

The main question SF authors answer when including religion or not in their stories is “What is the place of religion in the future?” Will we progress in science beyond any need for gods, will our future cause us to circle back to find that spiritual enlightenment is the most important pursuit, or something entirely other?

A realistic space battle might include no space battle at all, with forces jamming each others computers from great distances and venting one another into space being the main action. However, realistic doesn’t always mean entertaining or engaging, this is after all science fiction, so what makes a space battle engaging? I wrote a short list in the previous post about my personal feelings, and in this post I’d like to investigate those claims a bit further with the help of another blog post. I found an article from 2018 talking about how to write engaging space combat, (it’s a great read, can be found here :https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-tips-for-creating-an-engaging-space-battle/) and here I’ll go through some of it’s main points with some of my personal opinions mixed in.

1. Characters are important. Characters can be the ones piloting the ships, or they can be the ships themselves. Take Star Trek, in most of their engagements with the klingons and their “Birds of Prey,” you rarely see inside the klingon ships. They are allowed to be some unknown enemy, though you know that they’re in there. So in this case the crew of the Enterprise are individual characters, while the klingon ship itself is a character. This adds another layer though because Kirk never himself pilots the enterprise, he simply gives commands. Compare this to Luke piloting his X-Wing, the difference is subtle but it’s the difference between a character being in direct control and not. In wide shots of the trench run, you see the X-Wing and think “That’s Luke” but you (or at least I) never see the Enterprise and think “That’s Kirk.” Ships on the screen should be limited to a number the viewer can understand, and we should always be able to tell who is who, who’s in danger, and even the names of the main ships in the fight.
2. Environment adds realism, it also adds novelty and mystery.  Space combat is entirely different than ground, air, or sea fighting so show the differences. For example, a tactic used in Battlestar Galactica by the Viper pilots is to cut their main engines and rotate 180 degrees to check their 6 o’clock while continuing to move in the same direction they were originally going (i.e. flying backwards). This kind of move is impossible to do in an aircraft, but totally possible in space given inertia. This kind of thing should be a part of the battle, making it more visually interesting than just “planes in space.”
3.   Damage! Spaceships are incredible intricate things with life support systems and vulnerable parts. Damage should be a huge deal, venting to space should be a constant threat, and there should always be a clear danger to those inside the vessel. This is where I personally feel Star Trek comes up shorter than other shows/movies.  Most of the combat in the show is slow, dialogue driven, and limited to characters yelling novums and numbers, but more than anything else I have never felt while watching the show that the Enterprise and its crew were in any real personal danger during a fight (and yes yes the Enterprise does get destroyed, and sometimes the characters are in one-on-one fights where they are injured, but I’m talking about the average Star Trek space battle in an average episode). A large culprit here is the idea of “shields,” a novum which has found it’s way into a countless number of SF space battles. Interestingly, the main benefit of having shields on your SF ship was that, when it took damage, no one had to ruin the only $6,000 model you have to film with. Shields, in my opinion, ruin tension. A part flying off a ship and the crew rushing to close airlocks is, I believe, more tense and human than someone shouting “Shields at 60%!”

In my research I found that what makes a space battle realistic won’t necessarily make it great, though there are aspects of space that can be used to make the fight more dynamic and engaging. My main takeaway is a suspicion I had form the beginning: for a battle to be engaging it should be a story about people. I’m not a writer, but learning about engaging space battles has both given me a greater appreciation for those who write them well, and even made me want to try writing some of my own.

Space battles are a staple of Science Fiction, especially in it’s visual mediums such as tv and movies.  I’ve talked a lot with friends and family about space battles over time, whether discussing the relevance of the massive finale battle in the newest Star Wars movie with my dad (of which he was decidedly NOT a fan), or commending the genius of including the detail of thrusters firing in Battlestar Galactica. The truth of space battles is that they can be exciting, boring, overwhelming, confusing, underwhelming, tense, or any combination of these. I did some research about what makes a good space battle, but before revealing what I found I’ll write what my thoughts going in to the searching were:

1. Too many ships makes for a bad fight, I can’t (and, frankly, won’t) care about 1 million individual nameless people fighting for something that seems arbitrary.
2. Ships in SF media tend to be a combination of carriers and battleships, especially the larger ones. If there are fighters onboard, they should have a purpose beyond taking up space on the screen. Similarly, if there are big guns those should have a purpose other than to fire and constantly miss.
3. Planet killing is scary, but overdone at this point.
4. Tension is better than explosions, communicate danger.
5. Realistic battles are best.

Now I’ll admit that some of these opinions formed after watching some videos dissecting and comparing space battles from Star Trek and Star Wars, but I still held them (if not knowing the exact words to use) before all of that.

In my research, I happened across an article written by a graduate of the United States Military Academy turned science fiction writer Michael Mammay talking about space battles in SF and why, for the most part, they are totally unrealistic. His reasoning stemmed from the physical limitations to combat to the strategic limitations. While certain things might make sense tactical sense in Star Wars, in the real world with real world physics many maneuvers and tactics are either impossible or unhelpful. Here is a short list, breaking down some of the points:

1. Space is so big that capital ships (even very large ones) ever encountering each other and fighting is exceptionally improbable, especially outside of planetary orbit. Furthermore, distance becomes an issue when traveling without some faster-than-light novum.
2. Speed in space is all speed relative to something else, so two ships moving at very slow speeds relative to each other without prior planning is extremely improbable.
3. Combat tends to happen near resources, so in the case of most SF that would be on or very near planets.
4. Acceleration in the cockpit would make it impossible for any human fighter pilot to best a robot in a space dogfight
5. A large focus of modern combat is supremacy in BVR (beyond visual range) engagements. While dogfights and short range engagements with dumb (meaning un-automated or unguided, think an unguided space missile) weapons may look cool and have a more intimate feeling to them they are unrealistic.

So that’s what makes a space battle realistic. But if there’s one thing fiction, fantasy, and SF have taught us it’s that realistic doesn’t always mean good. I’ll explore in my next post what makes a good space battle, if realism allowed to have a looser definition.

I’ve loved Star Wars for as long as I can remember. The original trilogy has a special place in my heart, as it does in the hearts of many, but I even enjoyed the prequel movies a good amount and was entertained by the newest releases. I’ve seen almost all the TV shows, and “Lego Star Wars” was my first ever video game. Due to their setting and futuristic technology I always assumed Star Wars was science fiction, though now I’m not so sure.

In my research, I found opinion articles describing Star Wars as “Science Fantasy,” and others saying it didn’t even earn the “science” prefix, arguing for pure fantasy. The articles were filled with examples like comparisons of Obi-Wan to Gandalf, the Force to magic, things like sound in space, the list goes on.

One thing I see when I look back at Star Wars today, without the fresh eyes of a kid who’d never even imagined such a thing as a laser sword, is the influence of our own history on the story. An influence that, as many have pointed out, derives from ancient legend, Samurai, religion, and the two world wars. George Lucas said himself that the space battles were supposed to be a reimagining of the fighter-ace combat of the first two world wars.

It is not unlike SF to be related to the real world, many have argued that this relation is a defining characteristic, but with Star Wars this relationship is made without commentary or criticism. This is not depicting a future we may experience, it is depicting an alternate galaxy filled with magic and wondrous technology that is relatable to our own yet not in a way to make us consider ourselves. The empire is a derivative of Nazi Germany, Darth Vader’s helmet mirrors the iconic shape of the german infantry helmet in WWII, yet there is no commentary here. The empire is like the Nazis, and the empire is evil. Everything in the story is absolute. Even the large battles taking place in the background of Return of The Jedi (which are suppose to determine the fate of an entire galaxy) are painted as inconsequential, with all the real emotion focused whether or not Luke turns to the dark side (the modern movies are guilty of this too, filling the screen with thousands of nameless ships blowing each other up over artificially high stakes. Don’t even get me started).

In conclusion, based on articles I have read, I think Star Wars is fantasy. Sure, there is an implicit SF feel given the setting but, the setting is primarily the vehicle for a story which could theoretically take place in a myriad of places and times.

In some of the newer releases, for example the television show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, they explore some very SF topics such as the ethicality of cloning for war fighters and the morality of government bodies. Despite this, the show is a modern take on a decades old story that is, I believe at it’s heart, fantasy.

While researching a bit about world building in science fiction, I stumbled upon an article about James Cameron’s “Avatar.” The film, known by many as “that movie with the blue people,” earned a staggering $2.9 billion at the box office placing it in the top 5 grossing movies of all time.

The article was written by ethnomusicologist Dr. Wanda Bryant on her involvement with the film. She was tasked with creating an entire musical style that wouldn’t belong to any culture present on earth, and would work in tandem with the cultural backstory of the Na’vi (the indigenous peoples of the fictional planet Pandora). She writes in her article about how her work evolved from various samples from all over the world, including “Swedish cattle herding calls, folk dance songs from the Naga people of Northeast India, Vietnamese and Chinese traditional work songs, greeting songs from Burundi, Celtic and Norwegian medieval laments, Central African vocal polyphony, Persian tahrir, microtonal works by Scelsi, the Finnish women’s group Vârttinä, personal songs from the Central Arctic Inuit, and brush dances from northern California.”

Her article goes on to discuss how they achieved their goal of creating music totally unlike anything anybody had ever heard before, but in the process they had also distanced themselves too far from western ears for the tastes of the director and producers. In the end very little of their work made it into the film, but reading her article about the process of developing an entire musical culture for a fictional indigenous people is nothing short of fascinating.

The article can be found at this link, I strongly recommend it:

https://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/journal/volume/17/piece/583

NOTE: INCOMPLETE AND INTENDED FOR CLASSROOM USE

Abbreviated Archeological Survey
Twenty-second century mass extinction
Digital Artifacts

Northern Continental University

94/4808

Conducted for the Continental Department of Archeology

Financed in part by the Imperial Historical Association

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Background

                    The twenty-second century has become famous for being the most recent mass-extinction event on the planet. It is the responsibility of our department to facilitate education about our past and, through survey and research, to provide clear evidence as to the history of Humanity. In the world of modern medicine it is important to study the mistakes of our predecessors so that we might learn from them, and be careful to not make them again.

In our 4806-4807 survey of the mid-continental regions we excavated several thousand kilograms of primitive personal computational devices. Due to both the crudeness and age of these devices, it has taken our department over a year to transfer and translate the data gathered.

Presented below are what we believe to be inter-personal messages, public news, and other assorted documents. Unfortunately, due to the age and condition of the artifacts, only partial texts were able to be recovered. Dating methods place the artifacts within approximately a year of each other, though precise chronology is, so far, unknown.

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A summary of findings can be found after the artifacts.

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EHWI-38475

… Dr. Martin was found dead in his office this Monday morning due to unknown causes.  “It’s an absolute tragedy,” said Dr. Henry Zholof, a colleague at the CDC. “He was an extremely bright man, in fact the breakthrough that allowed us to develop the cure came from him. We’re extremely sad to see him go, but we also want to assure the American people, and the people of the world, that this will not keep us from our work. We are days away from being able to produce on a national scale, and will be ready to lead international production within the week.” Dr. Zholof’s reassuring sentiments were shared by the President in an address…

A372-9

AMAZON PRODUCES GAS MASKS FOR BABIES

Amazon has begun production on a new line of gas masks designed specifically for infants after a young boy tragically suffered fatal injuries to the head resulting from an improperly adjusted adult gas mask. Medical experts say that gas masks are not necessary safety equipment at this time and their effectiveness is still being evaluated. Regardless, the company has opened preordering so far receiving over one million orders.

GE7293-G

CURE DEVELOPED

The United States announced today the completion of their research into a treatment for SLR-8B. This suddenly places the disease-hotspot over a year ahead of the rest of the world in development, according to unofficial sources. The Secretary of State made the announcement during a phone interview this morning, saying that production was nearly under way and distribution would begin …  domestic use first before extending shipping to other countries within the week.  The CDC did not respond to our… “It is a testament to our ingenuity and scientific ability that not only have we discovered this cure, but we did it long before anyone else.”…response, WHO has officially announced a directive to halt all work on researching treatment and is instructing nations across the world to shift their focus towards production, standing by for the US to share its findings. The White House… within a week.

3732938-E

… but transfer tickets run upwards of $3000. I keep hearing people saying they might close the border, but as long as there are still people in the embassy I’m honestly not too worried. Seems like an overreaction to me, like what a few ants here and there are showing up with some rando disease and now you can’t travel across borders? Seriously it’s only present in insects anyway so I’ll just stay away from flies, lol. There’s like thirty billion ants I’m sure the food chain’s gonna be fine…

K3849

CONFIDENTIAL

Quit the bullshit.  … national image. We can’t afford to lose …the last fifty years. The economic boost yesterday alone was … diplomatic bargaining chip … If you won’t, we’ll find someone who will.

Sincerely,

….

Office of the …

7-FIL35[1]

…

NAME                 AGE    SYMPTOMATIC       …

Bradford Ruston         45        3 weeks                       DECEASED

Bill Rusnak                 32        4 days                          DECEASED

Tisa Flinchbaugh        92        2 hours                        DECEASED

Becki Blasko               18        …                                DECEASED

Fermin Defranco         63        …                                RECOVERED

Elvin Klopp                10        4 weeks                       DECEASED

Bradly Foulks             …        1 hour                          DECEASED

Kesha Lapeyrouse      26        2 days                          DECEASED

Ernest Medley             51        3 days                          DECEASED

HE-82G

Dr. Zholof,

As I’m sure you’ re aware, Vietnam has closed their last research lab. This leaves only one possible development site still open in Iran. It’s my opinion that when people eventually find, and they will find out, out there won’t be time to re-open them. I don’t need to remind you how long some of these patients are symptomatic for, according to my numbers at this rate by the time someone by some miracle actually develops a treatment or vaccine there won’t be enough production assets left in the country to create more than 10 million dosages per year. Those numbers are being extremely conservative with the estimated infection rate.

Consider this early warning a courtesy for our years of working together.  I’m telling the press, and I’m doing it today. I won’t be a part of this any longer…

EXT-9

BREAKING NEWS: SLR-8B VIRUS INFECTS OVER 10 MILLION

Today marked a milestone as the SLR-8B virus infection spreads to a confirmed 10 million cases. This, just one month after the first confirmed outbreak, raises questions as to the effectiveness of the protective measures WHO has recommended… suspension of public transportation, airlines, the postal service, and international borders. At this time… research continues towards a treatment …

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Summary of Findings

[Abridged]

                    Based upon the limited number of surviving records, the events which led to the twenty-second century mass extinction have been long speculated with no tangible evidence other than the knowledge that it had happened. What our survey has allowed us to uncover paints a clear picture. These findings are based on the artifacts above, as well as others which were omitted form this report.

It is the general opinion of the Continental Department of Archeology that the twenty-second century brought with it a disease, referred to as SLR-8B. This disease was contracted first by insects but spread to humans, as well as other mammals, at an alarming rate with a variety between cases the more primitive society was not prepared for. Being so unprepared, world nations began separate production on treatment with communication through a central body lacking authority. A treatment was finally announced by a nation known as the “US,” which appears in other texts by different names. This cure was, we have determined, likely a fabrication corroborated by the governmental scientific community in a ploy to avoid national embarrassment, facilitate temporary economic growth, and increase prominence. The death, which many members of the team have speculated to be a murder, of a doctor involved in the conspiracy is one of eight similar events we have uncovered.

With a high death rate, and extreme contagiousness, the estimated two weeks delay in research was enough to reduce the mammalian population on earth by roughly 80%.

The complete archeological survey, artifacts list, findings, and list of contributors is available on the neural-networks of the Continental Departments of Archeology and Anthropology, as well as in the  Northern Continental University catacombs

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Description

                    With the prompt of pandemic and the option to write creatively, I wanted to do a piece that would be an experience for the reader. Some of my favorite stories we have read in class have been of this style, where the reader is directly placed into the world the story takes place. ”Only A Mother” does this with its letters, “Erg the Self-Inducing…” as a parable, and “Galactic Guidebook for the Gourmet” as a restaurant review being a few examples. The decision to write an archeological survey was partially inspired by the Martian astronomers in “The Star,” but with the difference that this piece jumps between the year 4808 and the twenty-second century as the “artifacts” are presented. This let me try and tell two stories with one narrator relying on the reliability of the other. The report presents some pieces not directly related to the underlying conspiracy which provide come context to the twenty-second century world and the scope of the pandemic, and every artifact is presented as incomplete.

The piece it purposefully sparring of novums, like “The Star” I wanted this to seem like something that could happen in the real world. The novums included are there to add some futuristic flavor to the world of the year 4808 and there are only two or three of them, excluding the artifact serial numbers and the way the date is written. Also taking influence from “The Star” was the explanation at the end of the story.

Placing the piece into the history of SF,  it was clearly written with the US in center view. This, along with its themes, I believe places it close to the works of the “golden age” era of the 50s, perhaps with some influence form the “new wave” in its experimental form. This is compounded by the inclusion of the thought experiment, cautionary tale, pandemic, and disaster story tropes.

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[1] This is an incomplete sample of the recovered artifact, though is statistically representative of the list as a whole. The full artifact is viewable in the complete archeological survey.

Teddy Wecker

February 28, 2020

A Flawed Ideal

An axiom is defined in mathematics as “a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow” (Dictionary.com, “Axiom”). All mathematical proofs, ranging from the quadratic formula to special relativity, are defined by logical progression stemming from a certain few axioms. Isaac Asimov’s short story, “Reason,”  explores this method of logic to its extreme conclusion by using the robot QT-1, “Cutie,” to represent the human intellectual ideal, a mind of perfect reason. He illustrates the shortcomings of the ultimate mind through topics of consciousness, intelligence, faith, and logic, and demonstrates how a seemingly infallible method can fall to pieces when just a few axioms are out of place.

The first few paragraphs of “Reason” work in tandem to outline how the rest of the story is set to play out. Powell’s frustration, the foreshadowing hum of the “mighty beam director” (Asimov 161), and Cutie’s immovable posture, to name a few details, establish key presences that persist throughout the rest of the story. Most interesting to me is the early description of Cutie’s consciousness. Powell’s thoughts are presented, reading:

“These robots possessed peculiar brains. The positronic paths impressed upon them were calculated in advance, and all possible permutations that might lead to anger or hate were Ridgely excluded. And yet – the QT models were the first of their kind, and this was the first of the QT’s” (Asimov 161).

This exposition tells us that Cutie does not have a motherboard, central processor, or any other modern computer part controlling its thoughts. Cutie has something far more sophisticated: a brain. This sets the stage for his sentience, but Asimov makes clear Cutie’s consciousness is not like that of a human. He is uniquely other, unable to feel anger or hate and only trusting the paths of reason down which he himself can proceed. From the beginning, then, Cutie is said to embody the human intellectual ideal. The typical human is irrational and passionate, with human brains constantly taking us down paths where emotion clouds already flawed logical progression. Asimov demonstrates this with the two humans on board the station, juxtaposing their frustration with Cutie with the robots impassive calm (Asimov 186).  It is telling that, in the world of “Reason,” when humans were building an intellectual robot they chose to build one not with a knowledge of everything human but with an ability to execute perfect logic -the foundation for a seemingly utopian intellect.

            The point Asimov is trying to make with this story is the flaw with perfect logic. Early on, Powell attempts to explain to Cutie about space, earth, and the purpose of the station. Cutie, though, has a mind built around reason and replies “Do you expect me… to believe any such complicated, implausible hypothesis?” (Asimov 163) Cutie refuses to accept truths of the universe he cannot himself back by tangible evidence. “I accept nothing on authority,” says the robot, “A hypothesis must be backed by reason, or else it is worthless” (Asimov 165).  With this quote, Cutie exposes the true flaw with his method, which circles back to axioms. Some of the early axioms Cutie follows are that he exists, he is sophisticated, and that only reason is the path to truth. These axioms take him away from what the humans know to be true, and towards the conclusion that he was built by the master.

This is Asimov’s first critique of purely logical thinking. When a person, or a robot, takes nothing other than what they can directly prove through observation to be true, the foundation upon which their seemingly infallible logic is built is prone to cave in. A compounding problem being that, with axioms constructed from a limited perspective, there may be no real indication that the method of logic is wrong. Such is the case with Cutie where, as seen in his dismissal of the explanation Powell provides about space, the only thing more stubborn than his logic is his unwillingness to accept that he may be incorrect. Though this is an underlying theme throughout the story Asimov goes so far as to communicate this bluntly through dialogue. Powell says, in response to his comrade beginning to question whether or not Cutie may actually be the one who’s right, “you can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason- if you pick the proper postulates … postulates are based on assumption and adhered to by faith” (Asimov 173).  This is the core of Asimov’s argument in “Reason”: that no matter what conclusion logic may take you to, it is worthless without axioms that are based in fundamental fact, but often retrieved by assumption. It would be impossible to prove anything without first beginning with some axioms, yet these axioms are often assumed for the convivence of proof.  Asimov questions whether it is fair to assume things about nature in the way we do, and demonstrates how cold logic can make a proverbial mountain out of the molehill of a single, questionable axiom.

Powell reflects on more than the power of assumption alone, however. He also mentions the power of faith, a power used by both Cutie in the story as well as humans for the past thousands of years to explain the unexplainable. Asimov’s critique of faith as an escape hatch of sorts from the shortcomings of logic is brought to light several times, but perhaps most clearly when Cutie is explaining phenomena he cannot himself understand. Anything that evades the other conclusions reached by his reason is dismissed.  When asked about the purpose of the beams, for example, Cutie claims they are done “by the Master for his own purposes. There are some things… not meant to be prodded into by us” (Asimov 170).  This claim is particularly captivating as, other than through other conclusions Cutie has reached through his reason, there is no logic backing this solution, demonstrating the robot’s faith both in the master and in itself. Through Cutie’s explanation, some things which were obvious to the humans were unobtainable knowledge. Faith both binds Cutie to his logic and blinds him from its faults, and in this way Asimov demonstrates the flaw with the ideal human mind. There is no way someone can know everything, but Asimov makes the case that determining what is unknowable is more complicated than it seems.

Throughout Asimov’s story he dissects the notion that purely logical thinking is the path to ultimate intelligence. He makes the point that despite a seemingly flawless method,  logic will only ever be as good as the axioms upon which it is based. The human experience is an incredibly subjective and limited reference frame. There are some things humanity may never understand, limited by our faith, our methods, and our faith in our methods.

Bibliography:

Asimov, Isaac. “Reason.” The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction, edited by Arthur B. Evans, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay Jr, Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, Rob Latham, Carol McGuirk, Wesleyan University Press, 2010, p.160-176

“Axiom.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/axiom?s=t.