Visions of the Future: Why Science Fiction is Important

Visions of the Future: Why Science Fiction is Important | My Musings

12:01 am 7 November 2016

**Today's Topic: Why should we encourage and support the creation & consumption of SF for children / young adults?**

"Sci-Fi Month is a month-long blog event, that I [Rinn Reads] hosted for the first time in 2013, created to celebrate everything amazing about science fiction. From TV shows to movies, books to comics, and everything else in between, it was intended to help us share our love and passion for this genre and its many, many fandoms. It was such a success – and I honestly wasn’t expecting that many people to join in – that people were already asking in December whether it would be held again the next year!

Sci-Fi Month has a schedule that all participants can add to, meaning everyone can clearly see what is being posted each day. This also encourages participants to comment on and visit other blogs." You can also follow on Twitter @SciFiMonth and/or #RRSciFiMonth

For me, the path to this post began when I realized that although I identify my favorite genre as Science Fiction (SF), I actually read & own a lot more Fantasy (F). This contributed to changes I made in my posting schedule which attempts a strict alternating of SF & F reviews. Which led to my realization that it is actually much more difficult to find SF audiobooks for MG & YA readers than F ones. And most of what I do find is post-apocalyptic dystopias.

Don't get me wrong, Fantasy is my second favorite genre (and I also like a good dystopia). But the truth is that none of the children/teens reading fantasy today will ever get a (real) Hogwarts letter, nor find a door into Narnia. But they might become scientists, inventors, medical researchers, or space agency employees; and a few of them could even become astronauts. They could help cure cancer, improve technology, reduce hunger & poverty, and explore new worlds (in our own solar system at least).

For that reason, I believe that we need more SF that encourages us to be hopeful & excited about the future and how we could contribute to it. We need more books/media that follows in the footsteps of the original Star Trek series. Although it had it's problems (e.g. token characters & women in mini-skirts while men wore pants), it did it's best to show a world were all people were equal and worked together to explore. And history shows that it inspired changes and encouraged people to pursue careers they never would have thought of otherwise.

All fiction can be an important force for good. It can teach us to avoid the mistakes of the past, or warn us of potential mistakes in the future; it can let us see ourselves & that we are not alone, or encourage us to be more compassionate towards those who are different; it can open our eyes to the truth of our society, or help us envision a better one.

This is a summary of the specific reasons I believe the Science Fiction is important:

SF expands our ideas about what is scientifically/technologically possible.
SF inspires people to pursue careers that make those possibilities into realities.
SF envisions the potential for a better social order (on our own world, for our own children)
SF encourages people to work to make those visions into realities.

I am currently working on plans for how I can do more to promote MG/YA SF in 2017. I hope that you will join me by doing what you can as well.

For now, check out Charlotte's Library for some great lists of Spec Fic for young (and young-at-heart) readers.

Talk to Me (pretty please)

What is your favorite genre?

If you read SF, why do you think it is important?

How do you find MG & YA Sci-Fi?

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