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Scientifictionist, v. 1, issue 4, April 1946
Page 1
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ESCAPIST OR REALIST? By Henry Elsner Jr. Away back in "the good old days", Hugo Gernsback and other pioneers of scientifiction thought that they would "educate" their readers through the magazines; make them into scientists. Though all pretense of such a possibility, even such a motive has been dropped years ago, many fans still write and speak about something mystically called the great "cause" of stf. They have defended their literature against the attacks of the uncomprehending, outer-world barbarians. Remarks that scientifictionists are maladjusted persons seeking for escape from problems they cannot solve in their own lives were roundly denied in page after page of literary effusion. In the last few years, however, this attitude has necessarily fallen gradually into disuse, to be replaced by a more sane and "mature" viewpoint. Now, we are told (or should I say, we tell ourselves?), that scientifiction fans are really normal people like the man-on-the street, indulging in stf as merely a hobby; an interesting pastime. In other words, fans admit they are what outsiders have charged them as being: escapists. Friend scientifictionist, what do you get out of stf; why do you read it? Do you read for the thrill, the sense of adventure? Do you pick every story apart for minute scientific errors? Do you revel in the glory and freedom of utopian civilizations on some faraway world wishfully thinking that you didn't have to exist in this dreary 20th century world? Are you so engrossed in the writing styles of one author or another that you cannot grasp the enormity of the pictures they present? We, the scientifictionists, in our literature, scientifiction, have before us an unlimited horizon. Scientifiction is not an end in itself, but only a means to an end. How can you read about the progress and advancement of man, and remain unchanging witin the hard shell of your ego?Scientifiction is the one branch of literuature with infinite scope -- but what are we dong about it? We live in an Ivory Tower of fantasy and wishful thinking, reading about the infinity of space and time, yet unable to face reality. Our literature is the vehicle for taking our minds on unlimited journeys, but instead of applying our lofty ideas and ideals, we either idolize the vehicle as the ultimate end, or we prattle in the same meaningless way as our mundane brothers who do not have our background. Our heads are in the Sun, but we don't -- or can't -- lift ourselves out of the "multiverses of the fog." Scientifiction should, and does, lead not to escapism, but extreme realism. You know what lies ahead; your mind is unhindered by the belief, "what is now is forever," and "what is, is right." You brag about your intelligence, your open-mindedness -- you call yourselves "Slans"! You are proud of your abiity to cast aside mental barriers in the realm of fiction -- apply this ability to the world in which you live. Use that ability of yours, your intelligence, investigate the world about you. Refuse to be muddled and confused by the voices of intolerance, bigotry, and prejudice around you. The world today is heading towards chaos because it lacks the very daring imagination, willingness to cut the bonds of the far-gone past -- the same talents you lock up in your Ivory Towers. No, fans are not the saviours of the world, Cos-men; Degler should have taught us that. But we, you and I, do have what is sorely needed today, why don't we use it? You know what could be, and must be, if we are to survive, in the way of a scientific world. What are you going to do about it? page 1
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ESCAPIST OR REALIST? By Henry Elsner Jr. Away back in "the good old days", Hugo Gernsback and other pioneers of scientifiction thought that they would "educate" their readers through the magazines; make them into scientists. Though all pretense of such a possibility, even such a motive has been dropped years ago, many fans still write and speak about something mystically called the great "cause" of stf. They have defended their literature against the attacks of the uncomprehending, outer-world barbarians. Remarks that scientifictionists are maladjusted persons seeking for escape from problems they cannot solve in their own lives were roundly denied in page after page of literary effusion. In the last few years, however, this attitude has necessarily fallen gradually into disuse, to be replaced by a more sane and "mature" viewpoint. Now, we are told (or should I say, we tell ourselves?), that scientifiction fans are really normal people like the man-on-the street, indulging in stf as merely a hobby; an interesting pastime. In other words, fans admit they are what outsiders have charged them as being: escapists. Friend scientifictionist, what do you get out of stf; why do you read it? Do you read for the thrill, the sense of adventure? Do you pick every story apart for minute scientific errors? Do you revel in the glory and freedom of utopian civilizations on some faraway world wishfully thinking that you didn't have to exist in this dreary 20th century world? Are you so engrossed in the writing styles of one author or another that you cannot grasp the enormity of the pictures they present? We, the scientifictionists, in our literature, scientifiction, have before us an unlimited horizon. Scientifiction is not an end in itself, but only a means to an end. How can you read about the progress and advancement of man, and remain unchanging witin the hard shell of your ego?Scientifiction is the one branch of literuature with infinite scope -- but what are we dong about it? We live in an Ivory Tower of fantasy and wishful thinking, reading about the infinity of space and time, yet unable to face reality. Our literature is the vehicle for taking our minds on unlimited journeys, but instead of applying our lofty ideas and ideals, we either idolize the vehicle as the ultimate end, or we prattle in the same meaningless way as our mundane brothers who do not have our background. Our heads are in the Sun, but we don't -- or can't -- lift ourselves out of the "multiverses of the fog." Scientifiction should, and does, lead not to escapism, but extreme realism. You know what lies ahead; your mind is unhindered by the belief, "what is now is forever," and "what is, is right." You brag about your intelligence, your open-mindedness -- you call yourselves "Slans"! You are proud of your abiity to cast aside mental barriers in the realm of fiction -- apply this ability to the world in which you live. Use that ability of yours, your intelligence, investigate the world about you. Refuse to be muddled and confused by the voices of intolerance, bigotry, and prejudice around you. The world today is heading towards chaos because it lacks the very daring imagination, willingness to cut the bonds of the far-gone past -- the same talents you lock up in your Ivory Towers. No, fans are not the saviours of the world, Cos-men; Degler should have taught us that. But we, you and I, do have what is sorely needed today, why don't we use it? You know what could be, and must be, if we are to survive, in the way of a scientific world. What are you going to do about it? page 1
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