Friday, June 21, 2019

Prophetic Scifi (part 5)

 
In the Star Legation visual novel, the Humans in the Solar Echoes universe represent us, of course, but they are in a different situation. Being the newest arrivals to the universe, the Humans began as a meritocracy as they established their colonies. Eventually, their meritocracy became a democracy, but now that FTL has been discovered and the Humans are connecting with other alien cultures, a larger question is beginning to emerge: Will the Humans influence the aliens and alter the trajectory of their societies, or will alien cultures change the course of Humanity? In reality today, it is difficult to consider the repercussions of our choices in this world despite our best intentions. Often, we justify the pursuit of technological and societal developments because we have the ability and expertise to pursue them. However, we often fail to pause and consider if we actually should continue in these pursuits. Science fiction gives us the means to re-examine the path we are walking with a glimpse of what might be further down the road. How many of us would have taken a detour in life if we knew where we might end up? In the past, prophets were often ignored, and this was even emphasized through the character of Cassandra in Greek mythology—a woman who had true visions of the future but was cursed to have no one believe her. Scifi is—figuratively and sometimes literally—a glimpse into the future. Hopefully...we won't ignore it.



No comments:

Post a Comment