Science fiction has always been a genre that has transcended conventional literature. Unlike fantasy, where the described stories are obviously fairy tales in nature, science fiction often describes technologies that have a scientific basis and could well be realized in the real world. What is most interesting is that many fantasist predictions and fictional stories have come true. Every science fiction book has something similar to a custom essay in which writers argue about the principles of human interaction in the future or about technologies that are not yet available in reality but are quite real in the author’s fictional world.
As a result, many innovative technologies that we encounter in everyday life now first appear in science fiction novels and short stories.
Space Travel and the Moon Landing
One of the most famous writers, in principle, is Jules Verne. He described incredible stories and fantastic events into which the heroes of his stories and novels fell. But Jules Verne probably did not expect that one of his stories would almost completely predict a human flight to the moon. In 1865, he published a short work called “From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes”. In this story, the events take place after the American Civil War, and one of the heroes decides to use the destructive technology of the war for the benefit of science and launch a man into space by firing a capsule with astronauts from a huge gun.
Just over 100 years later, the real-life Apollo 11 space expedition successfully reached the moon. Interestingly, Jules Verne predicted the flight to the moon and almost guessed the launch site in Florida, not far from the Kennedy Space Center.
Satellites and Global Communications
The space theme is tightly linked to science fiction, and space exploration has contributed to the development of the genre. Nevertheless, even before the space age, some writers made successful guesses about how space travel and navigation would work. American writer Edward Hale described the first artificial satellite of the Earth in his novel “Brick Moon” as early as 1869. Hale described spheres made of bricks hovering in orbit to help ships navigate 108 years before the first GPS satellite was launched.
One of the most famous science fiction predictors, Arthur C. Clarke, also predicted satellites in Earth’s orbit. In 1945, in his essay, he proposed that around the Earth, many devices would provide global telephone communication. In 1957, the first satellite went into orbit. Now, life in our tech world is impossible without these technologies, as satellites are responsible for almost all telecommunications and networking on the planet.
The Mobile Phone and the Internet
One of the fathers of science fiction in the modern sense is considered to be Robert Heinlein. This famous writer and futurologist suggested the emergence of many things during his career. His fans counted about 200 inventions that did not exist in the world when the writer talked about them. It should be said that many remained a fantasy, such as air roads to combat traffic jams or gravity fields to help in childbirth. However, many predictions have come true, and one of the most significant predictions was the emergence of the Internet and mobile communication.
In 1938, in his first novel, “For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs,” Robert Heinlein described in detail a nationwide information network through which the hero can instantly access a newspaper article from the previous century. This is considered the first prototype of the Internet, originally invented as an alternative form of information and data exchange between military personnel in the United States. As for the idea of mobile phones, the writer not only predicted their appearance and use but described a problem that is now very relevant. In the 1941 novel “The Lost Legacy,” the protagonist says that he did not take the intercom with him because he did not want to be tracked. Many of his characters used such intercoms in the writer’s later books.
It is worth noting that many sci-fi writers predicted the Internet and mobile phones, but Robert Heinlein described the cell phone as a device that fits in a pocket.
Artificial Intelligence
Isaac Asimov, one of the most influential science fiction writers, made many predictions, some of which were frighteningly accurate. Moreover, Isaac Asimov’s principles are now actually applied in science. For example, in his “I, Robot” collection, Asimov proposed the “Three Laws of Robotics”. This is a set of rules invented by the author that an android must follow.
- A robot cannot harm a human being or, by its inaction, allow a human being to be harmed.
- A robot must obey all orders given by a human unless those orders contradict the First Law.
- A robot must take care of its own safety to the extent that it does not contradict the First or Second Laws.
These laws are still considered the basis for ethical standards in the field of artificial intelligence development.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) technologies, which are now heavily utilized in gaming and education, were predicted by William Gibson in his novel Neuromancer back in 1984. Gibson coined the term “cyberspace” and described a world where people could immerse themselves in virtual reality using computer technology.
Conclusion
Science fiction writers have made many predictions. For example, Ray Bradbury predicted the era of total surveillance. Nowadays, we really can’t leave the house to avoid being in the lens of a surveillance camera. The writer also predicted the smart home’s technology and its operation principles. Philip Dick, in turn, very accurately predicted the emergence of crewless cars and described the principles on which they would work. Thus, science fiction does not just reflect our dreams of the future – it shapes it, giving us the opportunity to look beyond the current capabilities of science and technology.
