One Science Crisis After Another!

 

There are a lot of different kinds of science fiction. It represents a broad playground for the human imagination and a wide range of structures and plotlines.

One of the most often used frames, particularly in hard SF, is the framing of one scientific crisis after another. A seemingly insurmountable problem faces the protagonists, and they must use quick scientific ingenuity to resolve it. Only to find that after that crisis is solved, they are soon faced by another one!

The book, Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, and the subsequent movie use this to great effect. Every time it looks like science teacher Ryland Grace and his alien friend have figured out a solution to deliver a much-needed microbe to save both their planets, something new and unanticipated will pop up to throw them off course. But together they solve each problem that comes up.

Another example of this is the 1966 film, Fantastic Voyage. I recently watched this as part of the 100 Best Science Fiction Movies of the 20th Century series I have been blogging*. It's not in the same league as Project Hail Mary (especially in terms of compelling characters and deeper emotional resonance). A team is miniaturized and sent into a man's body to eliminate a tumor that is affecting the man's ability to remember vital information. More far-fetched than Project Hail Mary, it nevertheless faces one unexpected problem after another. They are also under time pressure - 60 minutes and they start enlarging again.

One Science Crisis After Another!

What if we were faced with these in real life?

The record of our ability to handle it is mixed, at best.

We really should not have enough food to feed the many billions of people on the planet. But thanks to the Green Revolution of the mid-twentieth century, we were able to feed far more people than we otherwise would have.

The ozone layer in our atmosphere was developing holes. It was in danger of disappearing, but through international efforts, we were able to reduce the emissions of ozone-depleting chemicals, and the problem has been checked and reversed.

Through the efforts of Dr. Fauci and many others, we were able to develop a vaccine to greatly reduce COVID-19's harm in record time.

But science can't solve everything.

It can't solve how incredibly stupid some of us are.

Many science-based efforts to reduce COVID-19 were rejected by a stubborn and ignorant populace, particularly here in the USA. There were many, many, many unnecessary deaths because people refused to mask up, socially distance, or take the vaccine.

The biggest example is our reaction to global warming/climate change. Climate scientists know many ways we can mitigate the greatest harms caused by man-made climate change. But the most important nation on Earth has leaders who refuse to acknowledge this. Instead, they are galloping in the opposite direction.

Many in this country are more disturbed when the price of gas rises a dime than when the use of fossil fuels accelerates global temperature rise.

Scientists can come up with all the solutions in the world, but they mean nothing if we choose to ignore them.

Imagine if MAGA had been in charge of Project Hail Mary, or the micronauts inside a man's body. There would have been no solar system-saving microbe brought back, and that man's body in Fantastic Voyage would have just exploded.

Our one sience crisis after another is TRUMPed by our one MAGA crisis after another.

Our best minds are being silenced by our worst minds.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

AOC '28

*please see my blog series Top 100 Sci-Fi Movies of the 20th Century. labeled Top 100 SciFi. Fantastic Voyage is No. 42. I am currently stuck on No. 40 - the 1966 movie Fahrenheit 451. I'm having a lot of trouble accessing it. It's like it just burned up or something.