reply posted on 14-1-2009 @ 12:47 PM by apacheman
Written science fiction certainly educated me, and stimulated thoughts in all sorts of wild, but productive directions. The problem with movie science
fiction is that too often, they pick directors who are unfamiliar with the genre, haven't read the book, don't understand the book's place within
the sf universe, and can't be bothered with the subtle nuances. Thus you get Starship Troopers, good theater but bad sf. TV sf does better,
especially on cable: Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Stargate, just to mention a few. Unfortunately, TV tends to muddy the waters by describing
as SF pretty much anything that doesn't fit mainstream categories.
My last year of high school was in a small school where, since their class offerings were limited, I wound up with English, typing, and five study
halls. I spent that year reading the library...it was wonderful. Every sf story that mentioned something I didn't understand or hadn't heard of
before prompted me to go look it up, leading me further and further afield. I did discover, however, a distaste for most mainstream fiction that
others extolled: it seemed grey and lifeless, bereft of anything approaching a new idea. Most reminded me of passion plays: predictable, moralistic,
and dull. Then one day in the spring I realized I had read every single book in that library that was of any interest whatsoever (it was a small
library) to me. I'm not saying that everyone would prosper under such loose control, but it worked for me, led me to art, math, chemistry, physics,
astronomy, history, sculpture, and on and on. At any rate, I left that school in the early spring, with a nod of thanks to Asimov, Clarke, Dick,
Heinlein (father of wisdom), Howard, Norton, Simak, Welles, Zelazny, and oh, so many more who taught me to think for myself, and fear not to replace
ignorance with understanding.
That "free-range" education left me with an eternal love of books and learning. My private library now encompasses some 1500+ books, with several
shelves worth of quality SF nudging shoulders with the likes of Aurelius, Tacitus, the Durants, Plutarch, Chairman Mao, Ghibran, and Tolkien. An
eclectic bunch, contradictory and opinionated, but fun. And perhaps I should mention that books go into my library only after I've read them.
Learn more from SF? Hell, yeah!
[edit on 14-1-2009 by apacheman]
