Sci-Fi, The Final Creative Frontier

The other day I Netflixed Wrath of Kahn because my roommate is a big Star Trek fan and I figured I'd give him the benefit of the doubt and check out some Billy Shatner and Leo Nimoy. This wasn't the first Star Trek movie I had seen. When I was 13 I had the impulse to see First Contact in theaters, despite the fact that I wasn't a big Sci-Fi fan. I enjoyed the next generation flick at the time and after seeing the old crew do their thing, I was again reminded that I actually like this sort of stuff.

Star Trek? NERD!

Yeah, that is what I thought of Star Trek growing up. I figured it was all these dorks watching humans and aliens run all over the Cosmos in unrealistically futuristic situations. I don't know what compelled me to see First Contact and despite being a big Star Wars fan, I really didn't get into Star Trek. Plus, the depth of the series, ie The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager, all that jazz was really intimidating to get into, so I didn't. My family was also really into sports over things like Sci-Fi so I really wasn't in an environment that encouraged this kind of selection.

However, now that I am a few years older and can appreciate things for their inherent worth outside other people's influence, I have begun to change my perspective quite a bit. I suppose it doesn't help the nerd cause when they are stereotyped as guys that never get laid or see the light of day, but as I grew up I realized that I had some social skills as well as a sizable dorky appetite. In moving across the country, you really get the chance to see how other people see and do things and now I live with a guy that knows a lot about Star Treak (as well as being a decent socialite) so I figured, hey what the hell, I'll check it out.

Creativity at its Best

After watching a few movies now, I've come to realize the power that Sci-Fi has to offer. It may seem a little over the top but the bottom line is not how sophisticated the special effects can be or even how benign a writer can make a race of people. The best thing about science fiction is that it expands the realm of human experimentation.

Lets take a look at your average comedy or romance or even crime thriller. Are they all THAT different from each other? Ocean's 11, the Italian Job, Will and Grace, Dharma and Greg, Friends, Two and a Half Men, Seinfeld, Arrested Development, the list goes on. These are all great shows with great writers, but they only lasted 10 or so years (at most) and not every age group can enjoy them. I believe the issue associated with this is the limitation of human interaction. There are only so many things humans can do on this earth and only some of them can be articulated well on screen. Maybe you can change locations or set up a really unique backdrop, but in the end, continually reinventing yourself gets to be difficult. It seems like every year another series of action movies and romantic comedies comes out and they are rarely ever different than the dozens that came before it. Hell, most of the time we see sequels or remakes like Die Hard 4 or Night Rider.

What is amazing about Sci-Fi, however, is the realm of experimentation. Shows like Star Trek were brilliant and successful because in having a show take place in space and in the future, a writer has complete freedom. What do I mean by freedom? Lets say you wanted to experiment with culture clashes. If you take a look at our world, you could pick Western vs Eastern cultures, or may the Middle East vs the US, Gays vs Heterosexuals, Men vs Women etc.. These are fine examples but they also carry a lot of baggage with them, such as historical accuracy, public appeal, political implications, etc.. With so much red tape it becomes incredibly difficult to really utilize genuine creativity. Writers have to spend so much time adhering to established norms and criteria that breaking ground is almost impossible. However, Sci-Fi has the advantage of shedding contemporary standards and allowing a writer to have complete freedom. In Star Trek, the future is utilized because it allows a writer to experiment with human/social evolution and having the series occur in space allows for tampering with physics for greater creative control.

There was a great episode I caught the other day called Parallels. This is the one where Worf is traveling back from a competition and he manages to accidentally slip into this weird vortex of quantum realities. This is a tough complex to rationalize, but the point is that every instant, we as a collection of atoms make decisions. Look left, walk right, stand up, sit down, etc... In quantum theory, all of these choices occur in separate realities and each plays out. Worf manages to create an opening into this vortex and realities begin to merge.

Now I don't expect anyone to completely buy or even understand this premise, but the point is that a writer creates an environment that is outside our current understanding as a human race to develop a scenario, the Sarah Connor Scenario, ie You're all mistaken, I'm the one that gets it and you all need to understand. This is an incredibly difficult situation to grasp and it would be easy to understand how it could drive a person insane. However, the writers for Star Trek attempt to logically rationalize and experiment with this sort of information in attempt to sort through the chaos. How does a crazy person convince everyone that he/she isn't crazy, but that he/she is sane and everyone else insane? This is more or less the topic discussed and the writing is very beautiful in that sense. Maybe you agree with it, maybe you don't, but at the very least the audience gets the mental exercise.

A more subtle topic in this episode is the love affair between Worf and Deanna. Much like a black person involved with a white one, this cross species interaction is controversial but highlights a topic that has been toiled over for centuries. In the series, Worf has no interest in Deanna, but as a catalyst to the situation, one of the realities he stumbles upon is one where he and Deanna are married. What a novel concept? Just cut out the middle step. Assume that you are already together, what then? If this story were constructed in contemporary society, it would impossible to make this leap, but with Sci-Fi it is possible. At this point Worf interacts with a Deanna that is in love with him and despite his lack of interest, he has to appreciate the situation. 

To really thicken the plot (beyond this episode) after he is transported back to his original reality, he has the knowledge of his previous experience (the one where Deanna loves him) and he now sees Deanna in a new light. He has to live with the knowledge that in another world, he and she are married and this may or may not compel him to establish that reality in his existing one. This sort of social interplay would be impossible, or at least extremely difficult to articulate, in main stream literature and that is why Sci-Fi is so ingenious.

Mental Exercise

The best thing about Sci-Fi is the mental exercise. "Lets say that....". Most people would say, "that would never happen" and be done thinking but the mental exercise is amazing. Lets say everyone spoke the same language or lets say our government concurred the world or lets say we could colonize mars, what then? Sci-Fi allows us to set up the conditions and allow our minds to fill in the details. "I dunno, what do you think?". Use logic, use reason, use whatever you want. What would happen if this or that happened? Can you imagine a world different than our own? What would survive a thousand years of social evolution? What would humans cherish? What would we be indifferent towards? It doesn't matter what the answer is, just that there is an answer, some sort of logical conclusion established from data and assumptions that are accepted by the pertinent parties.

However, a term like mental exercise excites few, mainly the nerds, and that is why Sci-Fi appeals to us. Most people are not interested in expanding their mental understanding. A lot of people are content with their surroundings and the idea of thinking outside the box is more than they can handle. What's important is that exercising your mind is how you develop your intelligence. People aren't born smart, they need to develop their brain just like you would your legs or your arms. You need to experiment with problems in order to solve future ones. Why do you think video games spawn smart kids? It has little or nothing to do with hand eye coordination but rather critical thinking and logic. Approach a situation, attempt to over come it. Oh wait, you died? Oh well, try again and again and again until you get it right. Thinking critically is the constant and when you find yourself in a real world situation maybe you way your options carefully, maybe you don't. Maybe you use judgement, maybe you use impulse.

In any event, I think Sci-Fi offers the experimental freedom that political science, psychology, and sociology cannot. Even the most basic of sciences, such as chemistry, biology and physics, have their limitations that can be overcome with Sci-Fi. When analyzing humans, it gets difficult to experiment because the time line is too long and people matter too much. We cannot develop a race of people to play with but we can create a theoretical situation and if it makes logical sense, perhaps we can learn from it. As it stands now, people are against abortion, cloning, gay marriage, etc... because of accepted human behavior. This limits what we can and will be in the future and Sci-Fi has the ability to develop scenarios that play with those social assumptions. It then becomes a matter of what is believable or rationale rather than what is right or wrong. There is a reason why logic is all over the place in Sci-Fi, it is the only thing that can transcend our contemporary ideology. If everything I say is true (or accepted by the audience) than a conclusion that I arrive at logically, must be correct. 

Closing Thoughts

Anyway, I suppose the point of all of this is not that Sci-Fi is cool, but that it is intelligent. Perhaps people think that intelligent people like Sci-Fi, but the "why" isn't sufficiently discussed. Why would someone smart like Sci-Fi? It isn't because nerds like aliens and outer space but because it gives them mental freedom. They are not bound by laws, norms and trends. They can manifest whatever reality they want in their head and best case scenario offer a comparison to contemporary society with some mental experimentation. It is a visual articulation of thinking "outside the box". I love it.

just my thoughts

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The Choices We Make...

...make us who we are. Such a cliche, I know, but I'm 25 and I'm starting to learn the value of all those old proverbs my mom taught me. For anyone that doesn't know me particularly well, my mother has been the most influential person in my life and I attribute much of my adult success to her.

Anyway, choices...such an interesting experience, the human experience is. See we human beings became self aware, hell, who knows how long ago. But in doing so, we really developed some complex biological, psychological, and social capabilities. Think about it, being self aware not only means that you know you exist but also that you are distinct from every thing else around you. This is easily one of the most important things in our evolution and one of the fruits of the Darwin Tree is the ability to communicate, and not just communicate but expand the limits of organism to organism contact.

So whats the problem? Well, in communicating at a simple level, the most basic thing seems to be assigning roles. Whether it is fighting it out, or some sort of language I don't understand, most mammals communicate to figure out things like hunting patterns, mating patterns, migration, child rearing, etc... Anyway, the reason why this is important is that the concept of lying does not exist, better yet, not doing what you say your going to do, does not exist.  It just doesn't make sense.  An animal that didn't do its job would be selected against, either by nature or the pack. The best example I can think of is a subpar male showing off for a female.  He comes off as the best, he is wheeling and dealing but then a bigger bad ass come through and lets him have it. The bogus nature of male #1 is quickly exposed and nature selects him for expulsion.  Sorry Charlie, you just aren't what you came off as.

However, human males can say a variety of things to attract a mate, hell they might even lie. Maybe they don't flat out lie but they can at least embelish or make claims that they don't make good on. This works for a variety of reasons, one being, people want to believe things naturally. We want happy endings and want to believe in all things good because we are emotional and the emotion tied to good is happy and happy is the emotion humans treasure the most.

Where this becomes a problem is that since the dawn of modern human language the concept of "Talk is Cheap" becomes apparent. What does that mean? Saying your going to do something means nothing. Doing something is doing something. Making bold statements or over the top claims is only successful when you make good on those things. With this in mind, I have been somewhat successful as an adult by making good on my claims. I feel like people rarely understand how important this is, mostly because a lot of people don't it. They make idle new years resolutions or promises. That isn't to say that they are quitters, but be realistic. If you cannot do something or will not do something, don't say you are going to. I can't tell you how many brilliant people here at Yale have ideas about the future or their life or what they are going to do and they rarely have the focus to see anyone of them through to completion.

Why would this be the case? Well for most people, a student's life is more or less memorization and regertitation. You go to school, you learn something, you spit it out. Maybe you even remember it. However, once you become an adult it does not matter what you can say or even write. The real world does not care about your drive, your ambition, or your goals. The world cares about the finished product. The world wants something in the "out box".

What's the point? I think people underestimate the damage that bold claims can have. If you constantly go out there saying you are going to do something or that you want to do something, and rarely ever get there, you begin to chip away at your ambition. You spread yourself so thin and in reality are constantly falling short. Perhaps you got close and missed, but if you didn't even try, two major things happen. 1) You have no idea what you are capable of and 2) no one takes you seriously, no one believes you.

When I started out at Yale I thought getting a PhD meant that I would know everything about science. I would know the ins and outs of every single biological function for at least mammalian cells. However, I could not have been more wrong. Getting a PhD is not about what you learn, but about what you produce. The goal is basic, figure out a project and advance the field. No pressure. Yeah right.

If and when you make it out of Grad School, the interviewers don't care what you did, just that you took a single topic and focused on it for 4 or so years and changed the way people think about the world. For an engineer it might be to build a building, or a painter to paint something, either way, a PhD simply means that you reached a very specific goal and that determination and focus are what people want in an employee. In getting a PhD, you tell the world, "yes I will make good on what I say I will. I spent 1/5 of my life and focused on one solitary mission and I achieved it".

Now this doesn't mean everyone should go out there and get PhDs, but the point is this, make good on what you say you're going to do. It could be taking out the trash or mowing the lawn. It could be getting an A in geometry or losing 30lbs. Set a goal for yourself, and get there. Don't go over the top, just set a goal you can reach. Then maybe another. Then another. In the end you might not end up where you thought you would but you'll be somewhere good and you will have earned it.

Anyway, as I have gotten older and seen more of this world, I've come to learn that there are lots of kinds of people. One could be the "tall tale tellers" and another could be the "move and shakers". Nothing against telling stories, their great, but be the later. Be the guy or gal that sees it through to completion. Make good on your claims, talk is cheap. A person can say anything, an adult will say something and not only mean it but do it.

So the title of this post is "the choices we make" and that is what the bottom line is. Talking requires no energy or effort, its just exercising a few muscles in your neck and breathing out. However, if you chose to go to school over sleeping or you chose to stay loyal to a significant other or you cheat, your choices are who you are. I am here at Yale because I had a mission to get my PhD at a bad ass institution and I made the choices to get here. Many of them were difficult and it sucked at times, but I set a goal for myself and I wanted to complete it. I didn't want to be another person that just "talked" about doing something, I was going to do it.

This lesson is so valuable because it can help anyone. I was watching sports center the other night and one of the anchors said a very powerful thing in passing, "everyone is treated fairly, not everyone is treated equally". You get what you earn. If you put yourself out there and make intelligent choices, you will get the respect and accolades you seek. Maybe its a rich white kid choosing to do his homework, maybe its an inner city kid choosing not to do drugs, either way, both made good choices. Yes, whites have it better than minorities, but your judgement, your decision making ability is the same across the board. If you weigh your options and choose wisely, you will come out successful at the other end.

I've had friends and significant others that represent the spectrum of human personalities and sadly, many of them fall in the category I am currently criticizing. It does not matter what they say or how they say it, it matters what they do and a lot of them do not make good on their claims. Many people have supported me in my academic research as well as my ultimate journalism and some have even asked how I did it. To those and anyone out there listening, I do what I say I'm going to do. I make choices and I never make a promise I can't keep. This isn't to say I went out and I changed the world. All I did was follow through on my statements and if you want to be a successful adult, that is the life you want to lead. The choices you make, make you who you are and if you want to be something, you have to chose to do something and then go out and do it.

just my thoughts

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