Paradigms

James Blish, "The Science in Science Fiction" IN Blish, The Tale That Wags The God, pp. 35-45.

Blish writes that:

Poul Anderson

Raymond F. Jones

Hal Clement

Arthur C. Clarke

Larry Niven

Isaac Asimov

- are scientifically accurate but nevertheless write about:

telepathy;

faster than light (FTL) travel;

time travel;

anti-gravity;

force-fields or force-screens

- "...which are impossible by current standards." (p. 38)

Why?

One thing is certain:

"...the future will offer us new paradigms." (pp. 43-44)

An sf writer should not contradict known facts but should "...suggest new paradigms..." (p. 45)

We cannot know in advance what any new paradigms will be. We can only suggest them by imagining phenomena, like FTL travel, that are impossible according to current paradigms. Blish concludes that:

"...the most important scientific content in modern science fiction are the impossibilities." (p. 45)

We can look forward to a future not necessarily of FTL but certainly of unpredictable new paradigms.