The Goulden Twig Someone's Misuse of an Illustrative Exam- Pie)
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FICTION tor to get his start. No one knows aesthetic instincts to hoodwink large and cares so litde about the truth, that it whether he eventually came to believe in numbers of gullible people into believing oohs and aahs at every random serve, what he wrote and sold to others as and paying. every double bounce, every net ball. It revealed truth. If 1 had been Hubbard, I When we stop being artists, and start does not perceive die difference between would not have been able to convince being money-grubbing pseudoprophets, an earned point and a flub. The charlatan myself. me net is down, the ball can go anywhere on the court smiles and receives applause I suspect most charlatans realize that in the court, and the audience has for all. That's not our audience. That's diey have perverted very real, very useful changed. This audience knows so little, not my game. inspiration; please don't blame me for The Goulden Twig someone's misuse of an illustrative exam- pie). HAL CLEMENT In die bush analogy, my self-support- ing hobby of science fiction plays a he late John Arrend Timm, most essentially endless variety of directions the demonstrable part in the development of memorable of my chemistry pro- growdi may take, and lack of preference human ideas. It operates at the base of the Tfessors, had the common difficulty for any particular one of diese—diat is, branch, at die speculative start and a litde with students who wanted to carry analo- the absence of an upward-dirusring trunk. way—sometimes quite a respectable way— gies like me solar-system image of die I like to apply die same evolution anal- out into die hypothesis sections. atom a trifle too far. I don't know how ogy to die growdi of human knowledge. It There are speculations about parallel many rimes I heard him say with empha- applies nicely to my personal interest, sci- worlds, personality transposition, and life sis, and sometimes with a bit of annoy- ence. I may be grazing one of Dr. Gould's in die sun that, at least until recendy, no ance, "Every analogy has its limitations; if analogy limitations when I do this, one would have wanted to publish in any it didn't it would be an identity." because there does seem to be a direction other form and for which no suggestions Analogies seem to be a teaching neces- of sorts to the knowledge growth—toward for testing have been offered. There are sity; learning something new that has no greater probability of correctness—but hypotheses, quite testable, on why crater- connection whatever widi earlier experi- maybe diis is an illusion and, like life vari- lets on the floor of Plato (a 100-km-wide ence is very, very difficult, and eties, we are merely expanding in all avail- crater on die moon) are sometimes visible "Proceeding from the known to the able directions. dirough a giver, telescope am! sometimes Uiikiiown" is an aimost universally I tend to concentrate on the individual not, under what seem to be identical view- accepted teaching technique. Even die fact twig. It follows a process of growth, start- ing conditions. I suggested one, involving thar our imaginations have great difficulty ing widi a bud of speculation. This grows magnetic focusing of solar particles, some in merging die wavelike and parriclelike to die length of a hypothesis, where test- decades ago in The Strolling Astronomer, aspects of light has not, as far as I know, ing of the increasingly detailed idea organ of the Association of Lunar and inspired any physics teacher to try to becomes possible. If it doesn't get nibbled bypass both analogies entirely. off by a dinosaur (in other words, fail in Hal Clement (Harry Clement Stubbs) is (Observational selection may be operating testing), it reaches the status of a theory one of the most scientifically oriented sci- here, of course; efforts simply may not ("only" a theory, as die creationists put it) ence fiction writers. His first story, have succeeded, so I never heard of diem.) and becomes a real branch. The analogy "Proof," appeared in the June 1942 At primary, secondary, and popular does not extend to die idealistic level of Astounding Science Fiction (now teaching levels, where die customer is representing a completely established fact, Analog) magazine, and his first novel likely to be unfamiliar with much mathe- of course. This is all right; real life seldom Needle was serialized there in 1949. His matical symbology, we have to fall back on does this either. It is conceivable, after all, best-known story (unfortunately, he feels), verbal and pictorial analogies. One of my that die earth is a cube embedded in a set "Mission of Gravity," appeared in 1953. favorites of diese is used often by Stephen of force fields which so alter gravitational, Jay Gould in his efforts to point out that electric, and magnetic lines of force and Other novels are Iceworld, Close to evolution is not a simple tree trunk lead- die paths of electromagnetic waves and Critical, Star Light, Still River, and ing from "lower" to "higher" life forms. momentum vectors dial we are deceived Fossil. He was a B-24 pilot in World War He pictures a bush, and employs various into thinking the planet neariy spherical II and later a technical instructor, retiring verbal techniques to convey the complex- (you could probably find someone who as a full colonel in 1976. He has a B.S. in ity and randomness of its branching, the would regard diis suggestion as sheer astronomy and an M.S. in chemistry and taught high school science for forty years. SKEPTICAL INQUIRER September/October 1996 25 SCIENCE FICTION. Planetary Observers. It produced a more recendy established lack of a signif- astronomical body I called a "Superjovian." resounding silence among professional icant magnetic field does make it unlikely. It has since become quite respectable astronomers. However, 1 based a science I can live with this. under die name of "brown dwarf." fiction story, "Dust Rag," on die same Science fiction about space travel, (Discovery of the first brown dwarf, an idea a few years later, it sold readily, has sometimes with much detail about object known as Gliese 229 B, has been anthologized more dian once since, propulsion systems and orbit mechanics, recendy been confirmed by astronomers.) and 1 have been told of its use in sec- by people like Willy Ley and Robert I would say not to worry about the ondary school science classes. As far as I Heinlein, are far enough along the branch limits of this or any odier analogy. It's bet- know, diere has been no attempt to check to let one hold on and climb. I invented ter to have fun with die intellectual ecol- die hypothesis direcdy, but die moon's for science fiction purposes in 1960 an ogy to be found in and around the bush. • Science Fiction and fully stimulate die senses and excite the emotions, but of rational intellectual con- tent diere is seldom very much. Scientific Possibilities What science fiction can profitably do to counteract superstidon is to explore FREDERIK POHL the wonders of real scientific possibilities ugene R. Stewart proposes an science issues ? as they relate to the real wodd—even agenda for science fiction writers, Perhaps. Despite what I said above, some possible future real world very far Ebut his article makes me wonder if some science fiction writers have tried to removed from present existence. But that he knows what science fiction is. The apply die more or less orderiy procedures is precisely what a great many science fic- only work he discusses at any length is of science fiction to die diemes of fantasy. tion writers have been doing—in print Poltergeist, which is not science fiction at Among odiers, James Blish attempted to media, if not in film—for the last half- all. Poltergeist is a kind of horror-fantasy, provide a scientific rationale for telepathy century and more. and that is a whole other breed of cat. The in his novel Jack of Eagles; Larry Niven If diere is anyone not familiar with the themes of fantasy derive from myth and and Robert A. Heinlein tried to do die field who is interested in seeing how this superstition. Science fiction is reality- same for magic in various works; others is done, she or he would be well advised based. It deals with events that haven't have occasionally tried to do so for were- to stay away from die moviehouses and happened yet, to be sure, and may well wolves, vampires, and even astrology. go to a bookstore or the public library. I never happen at all. But the reader should Some entertaining stories resulted am reluctant to recommend specific be able to believe, while reading the story, from diese attempts. However, diey could works because to name a few is to leave that under some circumstances some- not have done much to further die objec- out scores of others diat are equally thing very like diose events just might tives of CSICOP, namely: to counteract deserving, but some recent novels worth a come true ... and no well person believes beliefs in superstition or die occult. look would include works by Ursula K. th.it about fantasy. In fact, I fear diat stories of this sort LeGuin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Greg Benford, Vernor Vinge, and many others. Can science fiction be used, as Stewart must inevitably go some way toward rein- (They might even include some of my urges, "to explore paranormal and fringe- forcing these beliefs.