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Alchemist, v. 1, issue 4, December 1940
Page 10
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10 ----- ALCHEMIST ----- in popular magazines, designed to sell for a profit, and employing a number of writers who spend all, mostly all, or a large part of their time in writing science-fiction. In order to sell enough quantities of these magazines to insure a profit thereby, appeal must be made to vast numbers of readers, most of whom are not fans or idealists, many of who have little interest in science and its actual potentialities, and who have little powers of/or inclination to intellectual speculation and actual literary creation. Moreover, inasmuch as this is a price system society, and most important of all, a price system society in decay, great care must be taken so as not to go too far with scientific and literary speculation. The mass of readers must be given what they can and will digest, and the best interests of the price system must not be infringed upon. Very little realism of thought and speculation, very little actual science-fiction in science-fiction therefore is desirable, let alone possible. Secondly: We must consider the paid (and mostly underpaid at that) writers of current science-fiction. They must put out quantity for popular tastes (which are hardly exhilarating to the intellectual) therefore little if any sincerity and creation for the sheer soul-satisfaying sake of creation is possible. The science-fiction writers for the most part, therefore cannot fullfill the fundamental basis of writing science-fiction: an expression of belief in an ever-progressive future in which science plays an ever-increasing part. As far as science-fiction magazines go, science-fiction cannot be modern mythology. Consequetly, nearly all of the tales in current science-fiction are false imitations of science-fiction. A few science-fiction books can and do fulfill the traditions of mythology for our present era, but
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10 ----- ALCHEMIST ----- in popular magazines, designed to sell for a profit, and employing a number of writers who spend all, mostly all, or a large part of their time in writing science-fiction. In order to sell enough quantities of these magazines to insure a profit thereby, appeal must be made to vast numbers of readers, most of whom are not fans or idealists, many of who have little interest in science and its actual potentialities, and who have little powers of/or inclination to intellectual speculation and actual literary creation. Moreover, inasmuch as this is a price system society, and most important of all, a price system society in decay, great care must be taken so as not to go too far with scientific and literary speculation. The mass of readers must be given what they can and will digest, and the best interests of the price system must not be infringed upon. Very little realism of thought and speculation, very little actual science-fiction in science-fiction therefore is desirable, let alone possible. Secondly: We must consider the paid (and mostly underpaid at that) writers of current science-fiction. They must put out quantity for popular tastes (which are hardly exhilarating to the intellectual) therefore little if any sincerity and creation for the sheer soul-satisfaying sake of creation is possible. The science-fiction writers for the most part, therefore cannot fullfill the fundamental basis of writing science-fiction: an expression of belief in an ever-progressive future in which science plays an ever-increasing part. As far as science-fiction magazines go, science-fiction cannot be modern mythology. Consequetly, nearly all of the tales in current science-fiction are false imitations of science-fiction. A few science-fiction books can and do fulfill the traditions of mythology for our present era, but
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