Some Science Thoughts - Asking the Right Questions

I have always liked science fiction, mostly the classic writers like Clarke, Asimov, and numerous others. The genre has obviously changed over time, but it has always, to me, tried to look, not necessarily to the future, but rather the big picture. 

By that I mean who we are as humans in this universe, where and how we fit in. In short, our possibilities.

The other day I picked up a copy of Analog Science Fiction. The guest editorial by Richard A. Lovett struck a chord with me. At the end he writes:

The bottom line is this. Whenever we have a “great” idea for how to make the world a better place, one of the first things we need to do is to find a way to test whether it works. Sometimes, that’s via a scientific experiment. Sometimes, it’s through science fiction. Either way, it’s an exercise in asking “what could go wrong?” and being willing to accept the possibility that our best brainstorms might be fatally flawed.

There’s a term for a person unwilling to ask those questions. That term is “intellectual coward.”

Science and science fiction have long been entwined together. Sometimes the fiction predicts what will happen in the future. In 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke had the Discovery One ship using the gravity of Jupiter to propel to slingshot into deep space. Years later, NASA used the slingshot idea to get the Voyager 1 ands 2 spacecraft to the outer planets of our Solar System.

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury accurately pictured the wireless earbuds of today. Montag’s house has TV walls that surround the viewer. Today’s large flat screen TVs are not far from being the same. When Montag is on the run, his “escape” is being broadcast nationally much like the helicopter news coverage of police chases.

In Frankenstein, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, in effect, brings a new life into the world through what might be a precursor of today’s cloning methods. It is that story that comes closest to what Lovett is getting at.

Science is good, and has brought us many wonders and much knowledge. It has also brought us problems. We have bombs that can destroy entire cities and high velocity ammunition that decapitates children. Science has brought us plastic that is polluting our oceans. 

I think another question in science needs to be asked, one after we ask “what could go wrong?” We can do lots of things. The question is “should we?”

That is where science fiction can help us find some answers, too. Maybe people considering entering any scientific field should have some required reading in science fiction.

A Song

My parents were married for over fifty years. Dad passed at 84. Mom passed at 94. Some of my fondest memories of them come from watching them dance at weddings. They could, as they say, cut the proverbial rug. This song is about them.

On the Dance Floor (Link to song)

My father’s name was Buck And he loved his darling Pearl Ever since that first time He took her for a twirl On the dance floor. Whenever music played He would take her by the hand They would hold each other close And listen to the band On the dance floor I would watch in wonder While I sat and stared She was Ginger Rogers He her Fred Astaire On the dance floor. And they’d do a two step Man they really moved And when they did the Polka There was nothing left to prove. But when they danced a waltz And moved together slow He led, she followed The way only lovers would know My father’s name was Buck And he loved his darling Pearl Ever since that first time He took her for a twirl On the dance floor.

***

They danced like that for all their lives together. This is a video of the song. There is a small clip of Buck and Pearl dancing later in their marriage. 

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