Kaitlyn Schmieder: "Robots and Spaceships? SF Digs Deeper"

Robots and Spaceships? SF Digs Deeper

Kaitlyn Schmieder

Science fiction’s individuality is tied to its ability to weave science and speculation into stories that explore topics ranging in complexity from outer space battles to analyses of the human condition. I admit I haven’t been able to get through all the Stars Wars movies, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a fan of SF. Earlier in the year, I described myself as an “armchair anthropologist.” I’ve found that the aspect of science fiction that has attracted me is its ability to allow a reader to learn about humanity without having to venture into the real world (because I’d rather stay huddled under a Snuggie). Science fiction taps into the natural curiosity of readers to explore endless invention, and although technology and advancement are essential elements of the genre, the coexistence of logic and emotions allows SF to become much more complicated than that. I think that truly great literature is able to explore the human condition and address how humans are able to relate to the changing world; science fiction is not just a genre about robots and high-tech spaceships – what keeps me reading is the expression of authors’ emotions about change, society, and humanity itself.  Science fiction stays within the realm of the of the familiar world, and through speculative worlds we can learn about our own world.

How can a story about robots possibly make me feel anything? That’s exactly what I asked myself as I turned to the first page of the short story, “Do Supertoys Last All Summer Long?” by Brian Aldiss. In short, it was more depressing than the end of any Nicholas Spark’s movie. A small robot child has endless adoration for his human mother, and my heart broke as the mother (or Lord Voldemort in disguise) found herself unable to love him back. The concepts of the futuristic society and the race of human-like robots were exceedingly interesting, but what kept my attention throughout the story was the relationship between the mother and the robot child, and the ability of the story to tilt my perception on the genuineness of emotions in nonhuman life forms. Humans are distinct from other species on the planet, but scientific studies have shown that other animals have encounters similar to our own. Chimpanzees can communicate via sign language. Crows use reasoning to solve problems rather than trial and error. If other species can have human-like traits, what exactly does it mean to be a human individual?

 “The Cold Equations,” by Tom Godwin was one of the first short stories that introduced me to social science fiction; a story that I initially assumed to be merely about outer space turned out to be a story about the concept of human death.  Author Tom Godwin plays with the futuristic setting of a desolate space frontier that must abide by the strict laws of nature. Beneath the science-related content is a life lesson of forgiveness, “But it’s so different when you have to die--- you wish you had told them while you could, and you wish you could tell them you’re sorry for all the little mean things you ever did or said to them.” It simply wasn’t fair that an innocent girl had to die because of the rules of nature, and that’s why I slammed my laptop shut after having been prepared to read a tiresome tale of space travel.

I didn’t consider myself a science fiction fan before taking a course on speculative fiction. Walking away from the class with emotionally resonant stories has allowed me to take a more enlightened perspective on the genre, and the complex theme of human nature will keep be reading long after I have left the class.