What Happened to the
'Science' in Science Fiction?
By BJ Steeves
© 2006,
BJ Stevees
If you
look up the term science in a dictionary, you will find a definition
similar to the following:
a :
a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study b
: something that may be studied or learned like systematized
knowledge
a : knowledge or a system of knowledge covering
general truths or the operation of general laws especially as
obtained and tested through scientific method b : such
knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical
world and its phenomena (Merriam-Webster Online
Dictionary)
The
definition clearly states that there are rules for the way things work, the
way different things interact with each other, and the way things develop
and grow. Without these rules, these "laws of nature," there would be total
chaos. There are times when we feel that things are out of control, in
chaos, but that doesn't mean that there are no reasons for these chaotic
episodes of our lives. It is just that we don't know the reasons.
Let's
take a look at a typical definition of the term science fiction,
which is:
a :
fiction dealing principally with the impact of actual or imagined
science on society or individuals or having a scientific factor as
an essential orienting component
(Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)
This
definition implies that science fiction is a fictional story based on a set
of scientific rules, or laws of nature.
Much
of today's science fiction, which is being produced in movies, television
and writing, is more reliant on special effects and bad science than on a
good story. Let’s look at the Star Wars universe. Star Wars
showcases some of this bad science with multitudes of fighters buzzing
around in tight, circular loops, in direct defiance of the laws of Newton.
In reality, any vehicle traveling in space cannot make this kind of diving
turn. It looks great and exciting on the screen and/or the page, but
science just doesn’t work that way.
Another movie with a lot of silly so-called science is Independence Day.
Large alien ships the size of a small city move in, floating over most of
the largest cities around the world. If an alien race had the technology to
build such craft, travel untold distances to reach the Earth, and stabilize
the craft in place over large cities, why would they build nothing more than
a conventional fighter type plane to engage the U.S. Air Force fighters? I
would think with that kind of advanced technology, the aliens would just use
some kind of force field and simply disable any attacking force. Doesn’t
make sense, does it?
There
is much "silly science" in movies, television, and many of the science
fiction/fantasy books on the shelves. In the next sections below, you will
find a list of some of my favorite computer-related examples.
-
Super-intelligent
computers that blow up when the hero confuses them
-
Super-intelligent
computers that get confused when the hero says to them "everything I say
is a lie" or some other paradoxical statement
-
Computers that can be programmed by someone who has no knowledge of the
computer's operating system
-
Computer terminals that display the current operation (e.g., "UPLOADING
VIRUS") in huge, flashing letters
-
Computer security protocols that can be overridden merely by saying
"override" to the computer
-
Computers that, when shot, explode as if they had been stuffed full of
Roman candles
-
On-board computers that always know exactly how long it will take for
the malfunction to blow up the ship
-
Computers that can work harder or faster when their power supply voltage
is increased
-
When a computer is working on a difficult problem, the increased power
requirements cause the room lights to dim or flicker
-
AI
software that has unique properties that prevent it from being copied or
transmitted like any other data
-
AI
software that is able to bypass the security protocols of the operating
system in which it runs
-
Computers that exist in the far future or are alleged to be 'cutting
edge,' but demonstrate less functionality than a Commodore 64 or an
Apple II
-
Increasing a computer beyond a certain level of speed, memory capacity,
or complexity causes it to become self-aware
Will
the real Captain James T. Kirk please stand up? It seems that the original
Star Trek can’t stop using these "scientific" plot points, as they
appear in more than just a few episodes. There are more than a few in the
list which can also be seen in the later Star Trek series.
-
Space vessels that lack fuses, circuit breakers, and surge suppressors,
so that the control panels explode when some distant portion of the ship
is damaged
-
Spacecraft that, when shot, blow up as if they had been packed with
gasoline and liquid oxygen
-
Spacecraft that have no seatbelts, even though the crew gets tossed
around like rag dolls on a regular basis
-
"Reversing the polarity" is the solution to virtually every engineering
problem
The
medical field is not immune to the "silly science" syndrome. From Dr.
"Bones" McCoy’s bag of tricks:
-
Untested
medical treatments that are 100% effective and have no side effects
-
A
medical condition that will be fatal in an amount of time expressed to
the tenth significant digit; the cure is found and applied in the nick
of time, enabling a 100% recovery
-
A
large dose of radiation results in super powers instead of super tumors
-
A
large dose of radiation causes an individual creature to "evolve" into a
more advanced form
-
When a character is aged prematurely, hair that has already grown turns
gray
-
When a prematurely-aged character is cured of his condition, hair that
has already grown turns from gray back to the youthful color
-
Somebody lifts a car (or some other heavy object) with his bionic arm,
even though the rest of his body is normal flesh and bone and couldn't
possibly support the load
-
Creatures capable of changing their shapes can alter their mass while
they're at it
-
Extras and minor characters instantly die when shot; major characters,
when shot, either linger for a while before dying, or suffer a dramatic
but non-lethal wound
I know
that I have been picking on Star Trek, but it doesn't have a monopoly
on silly science. It can be found in other stories, too. I simply used
Star Trek as it appears to be a common frame of reference, because
almost every one knows these episodes.
Another set of pet peeves for me occur in stories which deal with clones.
There are several "silly science" plot points that appear a lot more often
than they should. Have a look:
-
Clones that grow to match the cloned person's state of physiological
development in a small fraction of the time
-
Clones that think, act, and speak in a manner indistinguishable from the
original person
-
Clones
that come out of the cloning vat with the same haircut as the individual
cloned
Have
you ever known or have friends who were twins, or maybe triplets? Even
though they are raised in the same environment, and they generally will act
similarly, they each have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, and
their own views and opinions. Clones would act the same way, with each one
growing and developing a separate personality.
Vehicles and weapon systems are also included in "silly science."
-
Patently obvious design flaws in a vehicle or weapon system that go
uncorrected during the entire life cycle of the system in question
-
Vehicles and/or weapon systems that are totally impractical for the
environment in which they are deployed (e.g. the forest chase scene in
Return of the Jedi)
-
Spacecraft with features that have been pointlessly carried over from
water-borne designs
-
Hand-held weapons significantly more complex to engineer and costly to
build than a twentieth-century firearm, but not noticeably deadlier,
longer-ranged, or more accurate
-
Heroes/ships that can dodge laser beams because the beams travel so
slowly
-
The hero who knows how to defuse the bomb, but can't remember which of
two wires to cut
Many
other technologies, current or future, suffer from the "silly science" fate:
-
A
robot is shot and bleeds oil
-
An
item of technology is quickly reverse-engineered by a far less advanced
group of researchers
-
A
group of aliens is smart enough to steal someone else's technology, but
too stupid to make any improvements on it
-
A
technological development progresses from half-baked theory to useful
implementation in fifteen minutes instead of fifteen months
-
Nuclear weapons which have an effect well out of proportion for
reasonable yields (like throwing the moon out of its orbit, etc.)
-
Two-way viewscreens which work between two races which have never
contacted each other, cannot speak each other's language, and cannot
possibly have worked out compatible protocols for transmission of image
and sound
-
Lasers
that are visible in the vacuum of outer space
-
Advanced robots that have difficulty negotiating stairs
-
Tactical systems that can only deal with targets visible to the naked
eye
-
Alien artifacts that still work after being abandoned for a million
years
-
Spaceships that make a whoosh as they go by
-
Huge, expensive spacecraft that are used to transport inexpensive goods
in tiny quantities
-
Stars go shooting past the spaceship as it flies through space
-
The solution for a problem solved four weeks ago is thrown away and
never seen again
-
A
space vessel is sent out on missions before its systems are fully
operational
-
Robots that despite their size and function are designed with exactly
the same features as a human (two arms and legs, ten fingers, two eyes,
same joint system, etc.)
-
The plans for a complicated device can be downloaded onto a 1.44 Meg
floppy
-
Nebulae that are as opaque as an equivalent volume of fog
I can
come up with a lot more to add to this list, such as Adam and Eve
variations, but you get the idea. What does this mean to the prospective
writer of a science fiction and/or fantasy story? Scientific rules need to
be followed. And a writer must decide on what the rules for the
world/universe are, whether based in science or in fantasy, and stick to
them throughout the story. These rules must be described in some way to the
reader, as an integral part of the story. This can be extremely difficult
if the subject matter is very technical. As long as the rules, real or made
up, are consistent and faithfully followed, then the reader will have an
easier time believing the premise of the story being told.
Before
you consider writing a great blockbuster novel, consider the plot of the
story. Look at it from an editor’s point of view. If it seems like the
same old stuff, then the automatic rejection slip is guaranteed to be in
your mail sooner or later. Sooner, most likely. This is not to say that an
original story could not be written from one of the listed examples, but I
would bet that any editor would think, "Not another one!" and toss it. So,
when you start your next work, I hope that you will avoid these devices.
Your readers will thank for it.
Star Trek
is
™ & © by
Paramount Pictures
Star Wars
is
™
& © by Lucasfilm
|
