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Nucleus, v. 3, issue 2, Winter 1941
31858063104982_004
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could maintain, for example, that the literary standards of such a solid and respectable fanzine as S̲p̲a̲c̲e̲w̲a̲y̲s̲, even begin to approach those of college publications like the Harvard A̲d̲v̲o̲c̲a̲t̲e̲, and the Virginia S̲p̲e̲c̲t̲a̲t̲o̲r̲, etc.; and I have seen numerous nigh school magazines which would make any fanzine appear feeble and puerile. In his speech at the Denvention, Heinlein offers lovers of stf fans another way out. According to his theory, stf fans are distinguished from h̲o̲i̲ ̲p̲o̲l̲l̲o̲i̲ by virtue of their ability to take a longer view of things. They are supposed to have perspective. "Men who think in lifetimes," says HG Wells, "are of no use to statesmanship." Fans are supposed to have advanced beyond this stage, and to be among the few who have. Heinlein's theory may sound nice since it flatters fans neatly, but in my opinion it is approximately true in only a few isolated cases and these do not indicate any especial trend toward the desideratum, i strongly question the ability of fans in general to take the "long view* any more readily than that obstinate fellow, John Q. Public. Evidence? You need only consider the history of fandom. It is a history of self-seeking adventurism, petty squabbles nursed into lasting grudges and feuds, endless mistrust and play of cross-purposes. Fandom as a group has not shown one tenth of the ability to plan for the future shown by such an organization as Pan American Airways; the individual fan may or may not evolve a philosophy which consciously recognizes past and future eternities of space and time, but there are embarrassingly few fans who do not act as though fandom was a little world to itself, with no special relationship to anything else. Few things about fandom are especially clear, but if anything is, it is that fans are quite far from being the vanguard of a superior order of beings! At the other extreme, we have the insinuations of a few, to the effect that fans are "mad", "daffy", "crack-brained", and whatnot. There is some evidence which supports such wholesale accusations, but it turns out to apply only to one or two individuals; certain fans do or say dizzy and meaningless things, but this only does not prove a̲l̲l̲ fans are crazy; it does not even prove the fens in question crazy. They may just be having fun in a peculiar way. And t̲h̲a̲t̲ trait is found all over the country, and probably all over the world. College students, theoretical sane, have thought up dizzier doings than any stf fan has yet perpetrated, though I'll admit Sari Singleton did distinguish himself in this line. But if fans are really "mad", no proof of this interesting fact has ever been advanced — merely a few assertions, backed by no evidence support this view. Hence, fans are neither genii nor madmen, They are just human beings riding a hobby horse, and that is all. Their hobby is science-fiction, and fans do not seem to me either better or worse than* tho groups of people who are interested in collecting stamps, butterflies, or antique china, amateur astronomy, cockfighting, horse raising, chess or any other such hobby. I think it is more than time that science-fiction fans came down off their pedestals and escaped from their verbal asylums, and started regarding themselves as "different" only because they happen to be interested in one thing rather than another. Disillusioning as it may seem, the conclusion is inescapable — fans are people, too! --- Louise Russell Chauvenet -- Finis -- fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy "They do not see a grey nightmare Astride the world, or anywhere..." *** Hardy
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could maintain, for example, that the literary standards of such a solid and respectable fanzine as S̲p̲a̲c̲e̲w̲a̲y̲s̲, even begin to approach those of college publications like the Harvard A̲d̲v̲o̲c̲a̲t̲e̲, and the Virginia S̲p̲e̲c̲t̲a̲t̲o̲r̲, etc.; and I have seen numerous nigh school magazines which would make any fanzine appear feeble and puerile. In his speech at the Denvention, Heinlein offers lovers of stf fans another way out. According to his theory, stf fans are distinguished from h̲o̲i̲ ̲p̲o̲l̲l̲o̲i̲ by virtue of their ability to take a longer view of things. They are supposed to have perspective. "Men who think in lifetimes," says HG Wells, "are of no use to statesmanship." Fans are supposed to have advanced beyond this stage, and to be among the few who have. Heinlein's theory may sound nice since it flatters fans neatly, but in my opinion it is approximately true in only a few isolated cases and these do not indicate any especial trend toward the desideratum, i strongly question the ability of fans in general to take the "long view* any more readily than that obstinate fellow, John Q. Public. Evidence? You need only consider the history of fandom. It is a history of self-seeking adventurism, petty squabbles nursed into lasting grudges and feuds, endless mistrust and play of cross-purposes. Fandom as a group has not shown one tenth of the ability to plan for the future shown by such an organization as Pan American Airways; the individual fan may or may not evolve a philosophy which consciously recognizes past and future eternities of space and time, but there are embarrassingly few fans who do not act as though fandom was a little world to itself, with no special relationship to anything else. Few things about fandom are especially clear, but if anything is, it is that fans are quite far from being the vanguard of a superior order of beings! At the other extreme, we have the insinuations of a few, to the effect that fans are "mad", "daffy", "crack-brained", and whatnot. There is some evidence which supports such wholesale accusations, but it turns out to apply only to one or two individuals; certain fans do or say dizzy and meaningless things, but this only does not prove a̲l̲l̲ fans are crazy; it does not even prove the fens in question crazy. They may just be having fun in a peculiar way. And t̲h̲a̲t̲ trait is found all over the country, and probably all over the world. College students, theoretical sane, have thought up dizzier doings than any stf fan has yet perpetrated, though I'll admit Sari Singleton did distinguish himself in this line. But if fans are really "mad", no proof of this interesting fact has ever been advanced — merely a few assertions, backed by no evidence support this view. Hence, fans are neither genii nor madmen, They are just human beings riding a hobby horse, and that is all. Their hobby is science-fiction, and fans do not seem to me either better or worse than* tho groups of people who are interested in collecting stamps, butterflies, or antique china, amateur astronomy, cockfighting, horse raising, chess or any other such hobby. I think it is more than time that science-fiction fans came down off their pedestals and escaped from their verbal asylums, and started regarding themselves as "different" only because they happen to be interested in one thing rather than another. Disillusioning as it may seem, the conclusion is inescapable — fans are people, too! --- Louise Russell Chauvenet -- Finis -- fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy fansarecrazy "They do not see a grey nightmare Astride the world, or anywhere..." *** Hardy
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