Science fiction is responsible, in one way
or another, for much of our world today. It is because of Asimov that
discussions about robotics become more of a discussion about the ethics of
robotics. I could go on for days dishing out other examples but the point is
made; science fiction is ground zero for ideas that shape our future. It’s also
one of the only ways I know to put completely ludicrous cartoon physics in the
same scenario with hard science fact and emerge with plausible solutions to
difficult plot traps.
A plot trap is where a character winds up
in a no-win scenario. For the writer, it’s a scary predicament. Now you may
think that something like ‘shooting J.R.’ is the way out of the plot trap, but
that’s not even close. Shooting J.R. is purely intentional, as are things like
the Red Wedding scene in Game of Thrones. What I’m talking about is like this:
Superman just swallowed the kryptonite key that disables the nuke that’s been
surgically built into his body and it going off in one…never mind, it went off.
The only way to get ‘Supe’ out of the soup
is to employ something I call ‘quantum hogwash’, yeah, really. Check it out: In
the instant that Superman is blown to bits his atoms are free of the kryptonite
and return to their indestructible state. When a person dies his consciousness
lives on (perfectly plausible and measurable by modern medicine mind you) for
at least a minute, some say up to five. In that five minutes it is Superman’s
will that drives his atoms to do what our human atoms cannot - fly. He flies
himself back together and emerges from the explosion just in time to jail the
mad doctor and plant one on Lois. But quantum hogwash is not done yet. The job
of quantum hogwash isn’t to make the story work out the way the author wants,
it’s to land in the brain of someone who needs a mission.
A lot of physicists are science fiction
fans. A lot of them will tell you that the reason they are in their field of
endeavor is because they knew that, given enough time, they could make a
transporter or a lightsaber a reality and that’s great news. We need a
transporter and I don’t know too many people who wouldn’t love having a
lightsaber (even a small one that makes toast when you slice bread). It’s even
better news because there’s no way that I’m even close to being smart enough to
be a physicist. I had to use my spellchecker to even spell it right. So that
really smart scientist who understands all of that math-y stuff is my go-to
guy.
The title ‘science fiction author’ allows
me to create new ways to travel through time and space or even remove the
consciousness of a human being and put into an appliance without any reprisals
from the scientific community. But I’m not like that. No, I convince myself
that I’m am a step farther away from the cheese wheel by employing the mathematical
formula of quantum hogwash: C=P (conceivable = plausible).
Is it plausible that an advanced
civilization could write computer code onto the surface of molecules? Yeah,
it’s conceivable. Oh, then that must mean that it’s plausible. I just read a
scientist’s statement that said we could (in the future some time) conceivably
convert a person’s whole consciousness into computer code. Hmm, so then what if
we put that code on a collection of molecules that happen to be a refrigerator?
Granted, it’s not as cool as a lightsaber but it is cool to think that someday, some real physic…phycisy… smart guy might
read about it in my story and decide to make it a reality.
File it under: Why I love being a sci-fi
author.
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