Sf, like science, combines the two essential human faculties of intellect and imagination. Beings with intellect but no imagination would not be human and might be impossible. Libraries of history and science with no myths or fiction? Every positive proposition, e.g., "The sky is blue," implies multiple negatives, "The sky is not red, green etc," which imply the questions, "Why is it not? What if it were?" - which generate not only fictions but also scientific inquiries. Theories must be imagined before they can be formulated and tested.
I think that Carl Sagan's inquiries in preparation for writing Contact influenced the development of wormhole theory. Reading sf inspires the study of science. Poul Anderson is perhaps the Virgil of the scientific age, some of his predecessors playing the roles of Homer, Hesiod, Appolonius etc.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, is it even possible for an intelligent race to even BE intelligent if it is not also imaginative? How far can such a species go without imagination? Not far, if anywhere, I believe! The natural or logical outcome for a race with no imagination would be to become like the Zolotoyans in "The High Ones." A total state emerged on the planet Zolotoy which eliminated change and unpredictability, and thus the need for imagination in coping with an uncertain world.
Sean
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