Science Fiction Culture - Term Paper Example

Science Fiction Culture Science fiction genre comprises stories that are set to develop the future of the society. As children, we had always dreams of how the future would be like, the technology that would be in our world in years to come; these dreams of technological advancements have turned out to be true. Most scientists tend to say that the reason for which they decided to pursue their chosen careers was because they had always imagined things to be in a certain good way; they always wanted to make the world better by using the potential of human brain. Science fiction writers have got the imaginative and creative mind as well; it always enables them to write stories that are so captivating and interesting for people to read as everybody is curious about future of the world we live in. Although there is no person that can predict the future in an accurate manner, the science fiction writers try as much as they can to use their imaginative ability and manage to give out something tangible. The science fiction writers try to follow the trend of the increasing importance of technology in the society and create a picture of the future society full of innovations. They can imagine how people will suffer from bad side of the technical progress and enjoy its good impacts in the future (Rukeyser 41). A good science fiction always poses some questions of what will happen in future. Over the past years, science fiction stories, movies and books have been enjoying a lot air play. Current statistics show that around thirty percent of the people love reading science fiction articles and books. People are curious to see if these imaginations manage to work in real life with a passage of time. For example, Gareth Powell, a science fiction writer said that he had imagined a world that would be eaten by microscopic robots. He didn’t explain what the mechanism of this story was all about since science fiction is all about suspense. On the other hand, science fiction is a very useful in terms of predicting possible future that people will live in, as well as imagining technologies they will be using at that time. Science fiction helps in pointing out how we will continue to live base on reflections on how the world develops day by day. For example, what would happen to our society if it was installed with CCTV cameras in every corner of the world? The first time when an animal was cloned in the world, ordinary people were very surprised by the discovery but not the science fiction fans. The fans said that they had been excepting for the time that the animal clone would be unveiled. Science fiction has taken roots in the modern society and it has made people start innovating and developing things that are helping the society to live on. It has enabled scientists to develop new technologies that help to create a better society. At the same time, science fiction can be of a lot of damage to the society. I have tried to explain in detail some of the positive and negative impacts of science fiction in the context of development of science and technology, as well as how science and technology determined the character of individuals and societies. Technology is slowly changing the lifestyle of the society and the way people are looking and approaching life. Technology development is making life easier, it is increasing the level of society’s moral standards, the education levels of the society and the justice levels day by day. This has improved the standards of living and the human culture (Rukeyser 52). There are several factors that create and motivate changes in man. First crucial changes started long ago when man first made his first tool on earth. After the invention of the first tool, man developed it. Now people are motivated by science fiction to continue trying on new inventions. Human is motivated to invent more tools that he has at the moment to enable him live a better life. He always had the motivation to make tomorrow a better day than today and with this kind of motivation man was able to discover a lot of things that have eventually made life in society easier. Man is still inventing other machinery that are continuously improving the living standards of people in the society By the year 1999 science and technology had gone a step further and had managed to improve the lifestyle of the people. Scientists have been trying to develop a genetic prototype that would enable people to survive for several years without sickness. Although, they have not yet accomplished much in their quest to develop this kind of prototype, they have not given up on the research process. They are determined to ensure that people live for long years. This idea was gotten from science fiction and it has been used to produce several movies in Hollywood. There have been several inventions and innovations. Many years ago, these innovations were mere science fiction dreams and thoughts for the past generations. The development of the computer world has been a major improvement and has elevated the lifestyle of several generations. The developments in the computer world from the large computer mainframes, which were slow and extremely expensive, to an extraordinarily sizeable laptop, which is extremely cheap to carry around and easy to use, has improved the working standards of human beings. People use computers to work on, store information, store pictures and music. Computers can be used to calculate sums; they can be used to create and edit movies. The inventions of computers have enabled individuals to improve their lifestyle by making their life easier (Weißhampel 63). The development of Internet has improved the lifestyle of the human beings in a great way. It can be used to transfer information and data to different places; it can be used to perform tasks like research, the internet is being used by humans for communication purposes; a person can send an email or chat with another person via the internet, the internet has eased the workload of people as people can be able to work from their own homes without much hustle, it has raised the levels of marketing as there is e-marketing which give an option to advertise goods and services online, and customers can buy online the goods or services they want. This has improved the lifestyle of individuals and is continuing to be a reasonable thing for a change. The internet has also created many job opportunities, hence, increasing the income of people and revenue of the country. The internet can also affect people and society in a negative way as people can be addictive to it; some cultures prohibit the use of pornographic material but it is not limited in the internet, thus, it can be destructive to some individuals. It is also used for committing cyber crimes, hence, it can be destructive to society (Weißhampel 64). There is a major development in the medicine production industry. Scientists have been able to discover good quality medicine; hence, this has improved the healthcare system and increased the life span of people. At the same time, there has been an overuse of drugs and medical procedures; for example, plastic surgery. Although this might enhance beauty, some of these drugs and procedures have got side effects for the users, hence, they are likely to downgrade the lifestyle of the individual and society. The discovery of mobile telephones or cell phones has helped to improve the quality of communication between people. People can communicate to each other freely and easily than in the old times. This has enhanced the relationships that people have making people closer. Cell phones have also become a source of income to people and society. The introduction of cell phones has led to opening of cell phone companies and increasing of employment opportunities. This has improved the lifestyle of people and society in general. There are new phones that allow the usage of the internet, and they create an excellent source of entertainment. One science fiction writer wrote that he predicts a situation whereby communication will become so advanced that instead of people using cell phones and the internet for communication they will be using micro chips that are going to be embedded in people’s minds to enable them communicate easily (Rukeyser 78). Science and technology has evolved over the years, and for individuals to embrace these technologies has forced the society and individuals to change their characters in order to gain from the technologies. Thus, science and technology has a large impact on the character of individuals and society. Consumers from around the world have been able to get their goods and services that have helped them satisfy their needs from across the world due to the improved levels of transportation. This has improved the lifestyle of people and society in general to benefit from the goods and services that are being produced worldwide. It has also helped in improving businesses. The improvement of the transportation industry has also its shortcomings that affect the character of people directly; for example, nowadays people rarely walk more than 10 miles a week. They drive most of the time, and this is one of the reasons why people become unhealthy (Rukeyser 112). Works Cited Rukeyser, Muriel. Science Fiction as the Mythology of the Future. Journal, 2003. Print Weißhampel, Stefan. The Role of Science Fiction: Asimov & Vonnegut - a Comparison. Deutscher: Diplomica Verlag, 2008. Print Read More