Science Fiction Stories Research Articles

Ted Chiang imagines a computational theory of robots.

Two short science fiction stories, "Exhalation" and "Seventy-Two Letters", explore robots inside and out.

Translanguaging as Method in Science Fiction Story of Your Life

Translanguaging as Method in Science Fiction Story of Your Life

New Modes of Humanity and Everydayness in Gibson’s Cyberspace

The problem this article addresses is that we disregard the impact of cyberspace on our human development and everyday lives. We use cyberspace in our daily lives today through virtual work meetings and internet games. However, cyberspace can be more than a communication medium and game destination. It can be more than a matrix of networks in a science fiction story. Instead, cyberspace can be a space of human growth and where we experience our everyday lives. This article discusses the cyberspace described by William Gibson in his Sprawl trilogy, composed of the novels Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. The article shows how Gibson infuses cyberspace with everyday objects and situations. These everyday things enable the characters and readers to participate in a cyberspace that feels real and genuine. It depicts a cyberspace that is a new approach to being human and the emergence of a new everyday world. The research aims to show how cyberspace and our physical space are similar. It investigates how cyberspace contains a human dimension and human places. It examines how cyberspace can be as genuine as physical space. The research considers how cyberspace can provide a new everydayness and pathway for human living. From this research, the article hopes to show that cyberspace can be a place for human living in a world with fewer constraints. In this way, cyberspace can be an avenue for a new form of everydayness and greater human progress.

Imagining the future of artificial intelligence in education: a review of social science fiction

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore how the recently revived approach of social science fiction can be used as a creative and critical method to imagine and discuss the future of artificial intelligence in education (AIED). We review one hundred social science fiction stories written by researchers and analyse how they depict the potential role of AI in teaching and learning. Through a thematic analysis, we identify four main themes and several sub-themes that highlight the hopes and concerns that the researchers express for the future of AIED. Although the fictions present imaginative scenarios of anticipated AIED futures already present in the literature, they also feature creative illustrations of how such futures may materialise. We observe that social science fiction can be valuable in approaching the complex and uncertain landscape of AIED while stimulating reflection and dialogue. We conclude by suggesting some directions for further research and practice using this emerging approach of storytelling.

Consumer flash fiction: A methodology to support the early sensing of far-future innovation opportunities

Consumer-centered innovation with a far-future time frame is challenging because of the ineffectiveness of traditional market research tools in that context. Drawing on scholarly research that has identified creative action as a means of capturing the visionary knowledge of non-experts in scenario development, we propose consumer flash fiction as a methodology that allows firms to access consumer visions about the far future. Flash fiction stories are very short science fiction stories of 150-300 words and flow-written by non-experts in workshops designed specifically for that purpose. However, we find that the involvement of non-experts such as consumers in scenario development is rare. This limits our understanding about the type(s) of insights that farfuture flash fiction-based consumer scenarios can provide to strategists during the early opportunity sensing phase of innovation. To address this gap, we present and analyze the outcomes of three studies that collected about 859 consumer flash fiction stories on different far-future topics. In addition, we contribute to the conceptualization of the so-far lacking understanding of the complementarity between the traditional expert opinion-based science fiction scenario development approaches and consumer flash fiction.

LEARNING IN SPACE – USING SCIENCE FICTION PODCASTS IN AND OUT OF THE MARKETING CLASSROOM

ABSTRACT To provide the current student generation with an innovative online learning method, podcasts with science fiction short stories are introduced to marketing education. Findings from neurology and psychology point to positive effects of storytelling for gaining knowledge and developing interpersonal skills. Science fiction stories challenge common conceptions and enable students to engage with upcoming marketing issues in creative ways. An overview of eight marketing related science fiction stories is provided that are available for download as open access podcasts, with 23 more management and economics podcast stories available in the online appendix. To show how science fiction podcasts can be implemented in class, one of the stories is discussed in more detail. Further suggestions for implementation and possible challenges are outlined.

The Patent Law Origins of Science Fiction

This Article reveals the surprising role of patent law in shaping the literary genre of science fiction. Drawing on previously unpublished sources, the Article shows that Hugo Gernsback— the so-called “father” of science fiction who started the first all-science-fiction magazine in 1926—believed that works of science fiction are analogous to patents. Like patents, science fiction stories can disclose useful information to the public about new inventions. Like patents, science fiction stories can influence future inventors and drive innovation. Gernsback went even further, positing that some of the inventions depicted in science fiction should themselves be patentable. In 1952, he urged Congress to reform the Patent Act to make so-called “Provisional Patents” available to science fiction authors who depicted major technological developments before their time. He argued that science fiction authors who filed for Provisional Patents should get an extra thirty years in which to show their invention worked. If they could do so, they would thereafter be able to obtain an ordinary patent, to last another twenty years. Many will find Gernsback’s proposal deeply problematic from the perspective of patent policy, and rightly so. Granting patent rights too early in an invention’s lifecycle creates new and unjustified opportunities to hold up innovation. A science fiction author who obtained a Provisional Patent for a theoretical invention could crawl out of the woodwork half a century later and sue the very people who figured out how to make the invention work. Gernsback’s ideas for patent reform were half-baked and, the Article shows, probably self-serving. Nonetheless, exploring the connection he cultivated between patents and science fiction yields many surprising insights for science fiction and for innovation policy. Science fiction has more in common with patents than it might seem. Although science fiction does not typically impart enough information to “enable” others to make and use the inventions it describes, science fiction can inspire readers and supply them with a motivation—in Gernsback’s words, a “stimulus”—to implement science fictional inventions in the real world. Science fiction, like patents, can play a role in promoting innovation.

Educational futures and social justice

This paper considers educational futures from the perspective of social justice. It takes as its framework futures studies, which looks at what is probable (what is likely to happen), what is possible (what could happen), and what is preferable (what we would like to see/make happen). It also makes the case for science fiction as a method of inquiry, arguing that science fiction is a useful method for determining what we think we might (or might not) want futures to look like, as well as where we think we are now. Science fiction, the paper argues, is as much about our anxieties about the present and where we might be headed as it is about any sort of futures we may ultimately arrive at. The paper draws from the works of well-known science fiction authors of color (WEB DuBois, Octavia Butler, NK Jemisin) as well as from lesser-known science fiction authors writing from American Indian, Latino/a/X, and LGBTQIA + communities. In so doing, the paper explores how science fiction has infiltrated the social imagination and how it leads to paths both dystopian (à la Elon Musk) and liberating (such as Afrofuturism). It concludes with examples of the probable, the possible, and the preferable in educational futures, drawing from contemporary science fiction stories centered on social justice.

A postmodernist reading of the Epic Sci-Fi poetry, Adventures of Two captains

Among the works that consider political and social narratives, one can refer to the book "The Adventures of Two Captains," which also represents a kind of postmodern exploration. This work is intertwined with literary techniques, which is one of its prominent features, and serves as a bridge between science fiction stories, utopianism, and critical theories of international relations. However, it should be stated that the mentioned book aims at deconstructing modernist approaches to literature and the power structures that are used while defining global politics. The authors of this work, Elias Aghili and Paul John Amrod, while using epic storytelling intertwined with dystopian and utopian elements, have also used rich literary traditions from both Eastern and Western cultures in this direction. In this regard, this review analyzes the impact of the book on postmodernist discourse, exploring its noted literary techniques and broader thematic issues, especially its critique of power, identity, and narrative in terms of international relations.

Феномен мегациклов в фантастике Роберта Хайнлайна

The article focuses on the science fiction story “The Year of the Jackpot” by American writer Robert Heinlein, published in 1952. In this story, Heinlein outlines a social megacycle — an interesting and unusual phenomenon for that time. The essence of the megacycle lies in the internal connection between various nature cycles, leading to resonance when the minimum / maximum points of all individual cycles synchronize at a specific moment, causing a magnification of crisis events. Furthermore, as Heinlein emphasizes, by this moment, a mass of people has entered a somnambulistic state of consciousness, where their actions lose signs of rationa­lity and awareness. The article demonstrates that over the past 70 years since the story was released, the idea of the megacycle has become a norm in natural sciences. Causal relationships are now traced between astrophy­sical processes and tectonic megacycles, which in turn determine the geological, climatic, and biotic rhythms of the Earth. Meanwhile, concepts such as technological megacycles, capital accumulation cycles, passion cycles, and social revolution megacycles have been established in social sciences. The study provides an original explanation of the nature of the social megacycle from the perspective of chaos theory (complexity) and non-equilibrium economics. The role of the coherence principle in uniting individual cycles into a unified phenomenon is underscored. The article describes the impact of the population’s economic prosperity on the emergence of the social autism syndrome, which serves as a key factor in amplifying the megacycle.

A.N. Prior on John Wyndham´'s case

In his paper “Opposite Number” (1957) A.N. Prior anticipates the later philosophical debate on the ideas of bifurcation in time, existence and identity. The paper was inspired by a science fiction story by John Wyndham, and it was published in 1957, i.e., the year before Kripke´s famous letter of September 3, 1958, in which the idea of branching time was suggested. Which means that important aspects of this idea and complex problems related to it, were discussed by Prior earlier than has traditionally been assumed.

Using Science Fiction and Design Thinking in Workshops to Share Research Results With Low-Income, Marginalized Communities

We worked with low-income participants in interactive, storytelling-based community workshops to discuss results from a scientific project related to harmful algal blooms. We used two story-based workshop formats—a science-fiction story and a personal-research-account story. In this Research Note, we reflect on two main topics: a comparison between the two story-based approaches and work with marginalized participants. With our reflections, our aim is to help inform future efforts that wish to incorporate science fiction approaches and/or work with marginalized populations in science communication.

A Comparative Study of Shanhaijing and Modern Science Fiction Stories in Film and Video Animation

The Classic of Mountains and Seas is an ancient Chinese text, which is regarded as a treasure trove of ancient Chinese fantasy literature. Modern science fiction stories, on the other hand, have gradually emerged under the progress of science and technology and have been widely used in the field of film and animation. In this paper, we compare the presentation form, narrative structure and thematic content of the Classic of Mountains and Seas and modern science fiction stories in film and animation. It is found that although the time background and cultural origins of the two are different, there are certain commonalities in the creation of the fantasy world, characterisation, and exploration of the relationship between man and nature, man and science and technology. At the same time, it also highlights the differences in cultural inheritance and innovation between the two. Through the comparative study, the value and significance of the Classic of Mountains and Seas and modern science fiction stories in film and animation can be better understood and appreciated.

Planet stories: Using AI-generated science fiction to externalise conflict in relationships

Externalising can be useful in addressing conflict in relationships. It can provide space for deconstruction, the consideration of shared values and new meaning-making. It also avoids the labelling and deficit identity conclusions that can accompany internalised accounts. This audio practice note describes an emerging practice for working with couples experiencing conflict: using an artificial intelligence tool to generate science fiction stories to support the externalising of a problem and open space for reauthoring conversations. Andrea Ng Siu Har shares her work with Amy (pseudonym), whose husband valued punctuality while Amy preferred to prioritise being relaxed over arriving on time. As part of a playful enquiry into this cultural difference between the spouses, Andrea and Amy prompted ChatGPT to produce a science fiction story about daily life on a planet whose inhabitants were always late. As well as being funny and resonant, the resulting story helped to elicit Amys own values and to identify skills she had developed, including being able to remain calm and work quickly under pressure. It also prompted discussion of the family history of these skills and values. A subsequent AI story about a planet whose inhabitants were impatient facilitated insight into Amys husbands perspective, and prompted conversations about shared values and the work of achieving mutual understanding, accommodation and harmony. Andrea also shares some cautions for working with AI in this way, and emphasizes the importance of keeping the person, and their knowledge and preferences, at the Centre

Vampires: Outside Life, Outside Control

Vampires: Outside Life, Outside Control

Blurring the boundaries of current and future selves: students’ STEM identity exploration in a multimodal composing learning environment

ABSTRACT As multimodal composition is gradually integrated into STEM learning, research is needed to examine how to fully connect multimodal composing practices and STEM practices to support students’ STEM identity exploration. To fill in this gap, we conducted a design-based research project to investigate how students explored STEM identities in a multimodal composing environment. A total of 42 fifth- to eighth-grade students participated in the project in which they worked in groups to create multimodal science fiction stories. We identified two cross-cutting themes regarding how students presented STEM-related selves in multimodal artifacts: channeling current and imagined future life experiences into multiple characters and experiencing a hypothetical universe through restorying the self. The findings suggest that students presented a mix of current and future selves in multimodal artifacts. This study sheds light on promoting STEM identity by engaging students in presenting selves through modes of choice.

Magic Has No Borders by Samira Ahmed

Reviewed by: Magic Has No Borders by Samira Ahmed Danica Ronquillo Ahmed, Samira, ed. Magic Has No Borders; ed. by Samira Ahmed and Sona Charaipotra. HarperTeen, 2023 [352p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780063208261 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780063208285 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12 Editors Ahmed and Charaipotra have gathered a host of South Asian authors and illustrators to create a marvelous anthology, with fourteen fantasy and science fiction stories that deeply explore legends, myths, and historical events, all reimagined from different regions and cultures in the South Asian diaspora. Many of the tales center the experience of girls and women who have survived endless challenges and will not let future generations have the same destiny; in Nikita Gill’s “Chudail,” young Asha seeks help from her mother and grandmother when she encounters a legendary witch who makes young girls disappear. Meanwhile, “Infinite Drift,” by Olivia Chadha, immerses sci-fi fans in a historical reimagining with Archana, a time traveler who shares a connection with a soldier from The Battle of Saragarhi. Sabaa Tahir’s “What the Winds Stole” follows a cursed lake peri as she learns to trust humans again when a mortal boy searches for her body, wings, and voice in exchange for his stolen sea glass. Other stories feature reincarnated gods and goddesses falling in love, upper and lower classes exploring their sexuality, and powerful warriors with complex parental relationships changing their fates. Readers will indeed find magic within this breadth of stories. Includes editors’ notes, author biographies, and stunning illustrations. Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Imagining sustainable futures for the high seas by combining the power of computation and narrative

The high seas are experiencing a stark increase in industrial activities, with resources being exploited unsustainably and shared unequally. This suggests the need for a transformation, a shift in the deeper structures of the system such as underlying paradigms and mind-sets. We created future visions by combining computational text analysis with a structured, yet creative futuring approach. This process resulted in four science fiction stories, which aim to capture the complexity of the system, embrace the inherent uncertainty of the future and question current unsustainable trajectories, while emphasizing the vastness of future option space. The visions are analyzed using the concept of imaginaries, demonstrating that futuristic stories can be traced back to current realities and the scientific evidence they were based upon. We argue that engaging with alternative futures can open up transformative spaces to rethink the relationships between humans and the high seas, from which novel imaginaries can emerge.

HEARING SOLARIS: DAI FUJIKURA'S OPERA AND A MUSICAL APPROACH TO STANISŁAW LEM'S NOVEL

AbstractAlthough many opera libretti are based on novels and short stories, only a few have used a science-fiction story as their main subject. The first opera of the Japanese composer Dai Fujikura was written in 2013–14 to a libretto by Saburo Teshigawara and is developed from Stanisław Lem's acclaimed novel Solaris (1961). By analysing passages from the score, this article will explore both the different strategies used by the composer and his librettist to create a new version of the story and the ways in which they have renewed the genre of opera.

Hollywood and the Advent of Afrofuturism: A Critical Study of Black Power and Cultural Aesthetics in Black Panther

The article entitled "Hollywood and the Advent of Afrofututrism: A Critical Study of Black Power and Cultural Aesthetics in Black Panther" depicts the importance of blacks in Hollywood from an Afrofuturistic point of view through the film. Afrofuturism in films seeks to restore black identity through art, culture and political resistance. The worlds imagined in this cultural form go beyond simple science fiction stories created by Blacks: these stories, art, and philosophies center Black Diasporic life and allow for a way of viewing black culture in a fantastical, creative and hopeful manner. This genre triumphed in mainstream American theatre with the enormous success of the film Black Panther