“[science fiction] is the herald of possibility. It is the plea that someone should work on the future. Yet it is not prophecy. It is the dream that precedes the dawn when the inventor or scientist awakens and goes to his books or his lab saying, ‘I wonder whether I could make that dream come true in the world of real science.’” – L. Ron Hubbard*

Stephanie Zvan of Almost Diamonds Blog

Readers of this blog know that lately I’ve been trying to run a once-a-week flash fiction (see category Pure Speculation for the stories), or get something posted to 365Tomorrows. I’ve been criticized in the past for mixing my love of Science Fiction with my love of Science, but I always defend this practice. I see Science Fiction as the vision to inspire the Scientific discipline that enriches our lives in every day’s news.

Stephanie Zvan of Almost Diamonds moderated this first of sessions I attended as Scio09, and the session I was most surprised and delighted to see. Before the conference, Zvan posted some questions about Science Fiction and science blogging, and io9 posted a summary of the survey results, which I was shocked to find very negative, but then, reading the survey results myself, found them extremely positive (So in addition to their lame BSG spoilers, I now have another reason to dislike io9 (I’ll read it, but I won’t like it. So Thpppt!)).

Although much of the discussion was geeking out about what authors and stories people liked rather than whether SF promotes science, I think the way people became so animated when discussing their SF favs was a demonstration of its power. People get energized by their fandom, and that’s a good thing.

Consider one of my favorites, Star Trek. Valid complaints of Star Trek include its militaristic or communistic society (a debatable point) and its “maleable reality” or Treknobabble, but the series also represented a positive vision of the future. Some people, when they watch the documentary Trekkies only see a bunch of screwball fanatics, but I see a bunch of scientists, engineers, and doctors (albeit eccentric ones).

I was glad to see both Scicurious and Dr. Isis sing Star Trek’s praises. Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy is a huge Trek fan, even having debates about the show with Wil “Wesley Crusher” Wheaton.

Plait’s easily the best example of a science blogger who uses SF to educate. His status as a fanboy combined with his regular posts critiquing the science in the SF he encounters makes for an SF fan who takes it in with a critical perspective. That’s science.

Kim Gainer, English Professor at Radford University, brought up the important point that Science Fiction provides a medium for wrestling with the ethical questions in science. My whole novel Clones was such a thought experiment, dealing with the unique social dynamics of people raising child versions of themselves. Science Fiction stories about resurrecting Neanderthals or Wooly Mammoths give people the opportunity to philosophize about it, work out all the implications, decades before it happens.

Other participants brought up the opinion that some of the best SF there is concerns politics. “Vonnegut is the most important science fiction writer I’ve ever read,” commented one participant. SF Authors introduced many scientists to the political aspect of their professions, which was something I would not have ever imagined had I not attended.

The most insightful comment of the discussion, was when someone brought up the idea that science is inherently a speculative endeavor. “Every time you create an hypothesis you create an alternative universe for testing.” Science, therefore, is the practice of Science Fiction.

* Sorry to start this post off with a quote from a cult leader, but it’s a brilliant quote nonetheless.

The Wiki for this Session has a collection of responses from scientists and science fiction writers on the topic.

Science Online 09