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"I don't think the human race will survive the next thousand years, unless we spread into space. There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet. But I'm an optimist. We will reach out to the stars."
-Stephen Hawking (scientist and awesome dude)
"Remember this: once the human race is established on more than one planet and especially, in more than one solar system, there is no way now imaginable to kill off the human race."
-Robert A. Heinlein (late science fiction author)
"Spaceflights cannot be stopped. This is not the work of any one man or even a group of men. It is a historical process which mankind is carrying out in accordance with the natural laws of human development."
-Yuri Gagarin (first human to fly into space)
"The regret on our side is, they used to say years ago, we are reading about you in science class. Now they say, we are reading about you in history class."
-Neil Armstrong (first human to set foot on the moon) |
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Space
I have to say: I really struggled with a topic, this month. The recent disasters in Japan made me want to write about that; the problem is, I tend to deal with great tragedy by engaging my comedy cortex, and I would certainly end up typing something unforgivable.
But then I realized that I could still tie it in to another thing that's been on my mind recently, which is the prospect of human space travel.
Thus, this newsletter is probably going to appeal more to fans of science fiction than fans of fantasy, but if there's any place SF and fantasy really intersect, it's the prospect of what might exist on other worlds.
Anyway, recently, I was in Houston, as you know if you also follow the Comedy newsletter. And Houston, as you certainly know, is home to one of NASA's more famous sites: the Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control. There, I was able to reconnect with my inner space nut (which, really, isn't hard to do) and ponder a few things about space.
Why, many people ask, do we spend money on space exploration, when (so the common gripe goes) there's so much to take care of here, first? Why are we blowing money into orbit when that money could go to house the homeless, clothe the poor, feed the hungry?
Well, without getting too political in a newsletter editorial, first of all, I guarantee you that if we stopped all space exploration tomorrow, not a penny of the money saved would go to the poor or hungry, whether we want it to or not. Some of the same people who have a problem with space exploration have an even bigger problem with welfare handouts. Further, there is no way to solve all of our problems; therefore, if we wait until all our problems are solved on Earth before we go jetting off to Jupiter, we'll never get there. So you can just forget that argument right now.
Second, we're not actually "blowing money into orbit;" we're spending it on science research, engineering, manufacturing, and other real, tangible things, mostly right here at home (well, right NOW, we're giving Russia millions of dollars per launch to loft our payloads into space, but that'd be a good topic for the Painful Irony newsletter.) So again, if we stopped all space exploration tomorrow, there'd be a huge number of people out of work, looking for food, clothing and shelter, and being unable to get it because no one wants to spend money on welfare handouts. Therefore, that argument fails as well.
And, finally, there's the ultimate reason for going into space: Survival. Survival is part of our makeup as living beings; you might say it's part of our genetic ROM. And as far as we can tell, we're the first species of all the billions that have existed on Earth that has the chance to survive, not just by adapting to changing environmental conditions, changing said conditions or moving to another valley, but by sending a colony to another world. As Heinlein pointed out in the quote above, if we do that, we'd be exceptionally hard to kill - us, and any species we might bring along with us (cats, one would hope). This is what the earthquake and resulting cascade of tragic events in Japan brought to mind: As bad as that was, it was localized, and someday, a global catastrophic event will happen. No one knows when, but it's only a matter of time (maybe years, maybe centuries or more) before something like a comet crashes into an ocean. Or even if that, miraculously, never happens, it's a certainty that before another five billion years have passed, the sun will be too hot for Earth to sustain life. That sounds like a long time, and it is, but the risk of global annihilation is tiny but real.
As an aside, I know there are people out there who think that the universe might be better off if we don't survive. I acknowledge this while pointing out that the amount of self-loathing such an attitude must take is not something I want any part of.
Now, keep in mind, please - there's no imaginable way now, and might not ever be a way, to take every human off this planet (even if the population dwindles significantly - if that happens, there won't be the infrastructure needed). I'm not talking about the survival of everyone - just species survival. Also, I'm not suggesting such a thing could be realized in the near future; I'm talking about preparing for the eventuality.
So, having said all that, how does this affect us as writers?
Well, as I said, the idea of space exploration is a mainstay of science fiction, and hardly ever treated in fantasy - though there are exceptions. I think it's important to consider, when writing science fiction, three main aspects of space exploration and colonization: 1) How do we get there? 2) Where is "there?" and 3) What do we do once we get there?
A complete discussion of these questions is certainly outside the scope of this newsletter, but when you consider the myriad ways already examined in science fiction, you can see that the possibilities are legion. The first step, the first off-Earth colony, will probably take the form of either an orbital habitat, or an enclosed habitat on the moon or Mars. Such a colony could be used as a staging area for more distant exploration (and, yes, exploitation), first of the immediate vicinity (such as the asteroid belt for minerals and building material) and, later, of the remainder of the solar system. And, somewhere in there, at some point, we will almost certainly send probes and missions to some of the nearby stars now known to harbor planets.
The possibilities are still exciting to me, over forty years after I saw Neil Armstrong plant his boot on the moon. That was the earliest memory I retained - my parents calling me to watch a dude walk on the moon. I didn't grasp, at that young age, just how awesome an undertaking that was. But now I do. And I'm afraid we have two whole generations of people for whom that's one gigantic "meh." That needs to stop. (What also needs to stop is the nonsense sabout "the whole thing was faked." It wasn't.)
The prospect of a Star Trek - like universe, populated by humanoid sentient beings, is unlikely in the extreme. But we don't know, and so, as humans, we have to go find out.
So, let's see what's out there. |
Some science fiction for you this week:
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Last month, in "Fantasy Newsletter (February 16, 2011)" , I talked about how it's not only language that gets translated.
Adrianna  :
Have to say I took offence to your likening Japanese as "the weirdo down the street". As such your entire effort lost credibility and I didn't want to read on. I'd suggest trying a little more tact in future.
To be clear, I was referring only to the differences in language syntax, structure and morphology between English and Japanese, and never intended that comment to refer to the Japanese people. Especially in light of recent tragic events over there, I want to be clear that I have nothing but the greatest respect for Japanese culture, traditions and history (and, for that matter, language). Their contribution to world literature in general
| except for, y'know, the whole Hello Kitty thing |
Tadpole1  :
Hi Bob,
This was a very interesting and thought provocative newsletter.
Thank you,
Tadpole1
Thank YOU for reading and commenting.
LJPC - the tortoise :
Hi Robert!
I enjoyed your 'translation' newsletter very much. I was most affected by your contemplation of gravity and how all SF shows keep the actors/ships oriented 'up' or normal. You're right -- it's disturbing for us to see things upside down. This is a trick horror movies use to make monsters seem more horrifying -- they can walk up walls or stand on the ceiling. Good call, Robert! 
Laura
Yes, changing a reader's or viewer's perception is important to convey when things are "normal" or not.
Estopia :
Hi! I just knew then the movie "Lost in Translation" by my one of my fave Professors..:D
She asked us her students, "What does magic in writing means?" We do not know the answer then and that it really took time for us to find out what it really means. Then, it's still her who answered that question. :D <i said, we didn't know>. She said that magic is somewhat related to a movie...Lost in.. Then, she said, "Magic in writing is being lost in translation." You can have magic in writing by making your readers root for your stories. And that you will not notice everything around you but the only thing that you care about is what you're reading... That's how magic is being done in writing. Making your readers believe the stories that you're telling. Making impossible things to possible, only, THROUGH words... -EsP<just share>
Good insight. Thank you.
Pepper  :
Great points! But I've gotta know - Are you watching the remake of BSG that was done in the past decade or the 80's version?
While I'm certainly old enough to have watched the original - actually 70's - version, as far as I'm concerned that no longer exists. I haven't watched that since it came out. I burned through the remake's four seasons in about two weeks, and it was awesome.
Lothmorwel :
I really enjoyed reading this newsletter. I really get annoyed with wacky made-up words in stories. Obviously people and places will have different names - that's fine. But when they're unpronounceable it just hitches the reading and interrupts the flow.
Different names for invented plants and animals and objects are inevitable, but similarly tricky when reading. Actual foreign words, as in real words in use in different countries (I've come across this when reading fantasy set in other cultures or countries and the words used are real and included to add more of a 'feel' and depth) are easier to grasp purely because they do make sense somewhere to real people, not just the author.
Glossaries also annoy me. It's nice to know the author has had fun making up stuff, but I don't like having to flick back to understand half of what's going on! Unless it's Tolkein, where we just have to bow to his linguistical genius!
I've talked about such things in previous newsletters. Someone once told me that unless your name is Tolkien, you can get away with maybe five made-up words. I think Neil Stephenson's Anathem may be a rare exception. Anyway, someone told me recently - when I talked about how I have a "Ferengi School of Business" sticker on my car - that "Ferengi" is the Hindi word for "Foreigner." Perhaps sometimes it's better to use a known word than to make one up.
Lothmorwel (referring to "Fantasy Newsletter (August 4, 2010)" :
Well said. I read a lot of 'how to write' advice and it is very personal. Some say you should make yourself write every day even if you don't fancy it, just to get the words out. Some say to plan endlessly. Some say interview your characters. Some say try different genres of writing. I appreciate and consider all and any advice, but it's nice to find someone saying 'do what's right by you'. We are all different people and as such will have different ways of going about things. I need to get back into writing and unfortunately view it as a sort of homework, which is never good. When I had actual homework I spent a lot of time writing! I am easing myself back in by upping my time spent on writing.com, reading good things written by persons such as yourself.
Well, thanks! You've almost inspired me to write more fantasy instead of writing about writing fantasy 
Lothmorwel (referring to "Fantasy Newsletter (October 27, 2010)" about costuming):
Point 6 - Don't leave it to the last minute. I spent a couple of months (and more cash than I wanted to) acquiring the elements of a burlesque zombie for my best friend's hen-night. Never be one of the many people who think 'I can make anoutfit from my wardrobe' only to end up wearing jeans and a check shirt and being a 'cowboy/girl', yawn.
Point 7 - pay attention to the little details. Being a pirate isn't just about boots, jacket and hat. Think about Jack Sparrow - the sash, the headband (as well as a hat), the rings, the belt, the things dangling from the belt. Accessories really help pull off your outfit.
Thank you for the fun newsletter, very enjoyable.
Good points!
And that's it for me for March! Stay tuned next time for some topic I haven't even thought of yet! Until then, stay awesome and
DREAM ON!!! |
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Fantasy: March 16, 2011 Issue [#4288]
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