Against the Sci-Fi Hype: How Fanciful Television Rarely Spurs True Tech Innovation
Created by Rob Tyrie CEO Ironstone Advisory
A chorus of tech evangelists constantly sing the praises of science fiction television, goobering over beloved shows like Star Trek and Dr. Who inspired world-changing innovations. Don’t get me wrong I’m one of them, but I’m also the guy that sees the TV show or the movie, and then I go to the books where real science fiction seems to explode. Still TV and long form video attracts new futurism acolytes. So I’m not against the great visuals especially now that CG and AI are entering The fray for visual storytelling ... That’s the books that have the depth in the maximum signal. When trained scientist or physicist unleashes their creativity with what could happen based on the reality and the limits and constraints that are known, magic can emerge that transcends reality and spawns innovation of what could happen in the decade. TV is good but books are better.
Peel back the hype, and the alleged influence of these fanciful series on real-world advancement rarely withstands serious scrutiny.
Don’t get me going on Star Wars.
While enjoyable as entertainment and escape, sci-fi TV’s visions are typically too fantastical and loose to catalyse real inventions. Those looking for true prototypes of groundbreaking technology would be better served reading prescient hard science fiction books. Literature’s freedom to deeply explore speculative concepts allows more scientific rigor and nuance than the simplified flash of TV. I guess the masses just love a good demo and the prestige.
Consider Star Trek, endlessly cited for predicting modern tech staples like cell phones, tablets, and AI assistants. In truth, show creator Gene Roddenberry simply appropriated existing scientific concepts like computational linguistics and wireless communication to conveniently serve his space opera. The invention of the transporter was a realization the special effect was a lot less expensive to do than setting up the shuttle shots with photo realistic models on wires.
Star Trek didn’t meaningfully advance any of those concepts beyond the depth contemporaries like Arthur C. Clarke who wrote seriously about satellite networks in 1945. Yet ComiCon Trekkies arrogantly portray the show as initiating everything from iPads to space tourism, rather than recognising it as derivative. Its 'predictions' were imaginative but not original.
The same goes for most sci-fi television. Did Isaac Asimov not extensively explore AI robotics in books like I, Robot years before clunky TV versions? Stanislaw Lem examined nanotechnology in depth in his 1964 book The Invincible far earlier than any screen depiction. From cybernetics to cloning, books contained the truly groundbreaking explorations.
While Roddenberry shamelessly took credit for inventing flip phones based on Star Trek’s communicators, the reality is television writing lacks the depth to deeply explore scientific concepts enough to spur real R&D. Quick cutaway shots of tricorders and transporters cannot substitute for robust theoretical exposition and thought-experimentation.
So enough with the mythology around iconic yet intellectually lightweight shows like Lost in Space or Dr. Who "inspiring" innovation. Yes, they stimulated imaginations, but true engineering inspiration more often came from Asimov, Lem and other literary masters with scientific knowledge to back up visions.
Speculative Fiction Worthy of Inspiring Innovation
If sci-fi TV has value beyond entertainment, it lies in exposing wider audiences to thought-provoking concepts modelled more rigorously in books. But we must get over exalting slick shows as the wellspring of invention. For scientific prototypes, look to fiction grounded in research, not just whimsy.
Based on technological plausibility and conceptual depth, here are five examples of speculative fiction far more likely than sci-fi TV to catalyse real-world innovation:
1) The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson
Exploring nanotech fabrication, smart matter, and molecular-scale engineering. Deep Hard SF.
2) Accelerando by Charles Stross
A chronicle of a tech singularity event. Rigorously models economics, computronium, Jupiter brains.
3) Blood Music by Greg Bear
Sentient bacteria hack genetic code. Excellent "wetware" speculative bioengineering.
4) Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Realistic examination of interstellar travel's challenges. Scientific plausibility, not fantasy.
5) Blindsight by Peter Watts
Models alien consciousness through rigorous neuroscience and game theory. True cognitive science fiction.
Rather than looking to idealistic space operas, innovators should seek inspiration in fiction exploring futures grounded in real physics, biology, and computer science. The above books contain scientifically rigorous thought experiments, not just simplistic props for TV ratings.
Conclusion: Applaud Sci-Fi TV, But Look to Books for True Innovation
To be clear, we should appreciate Star Trek and its genre for bringing sci-fi concepts to mainstream audiences. But let’s dispense with the mythology that these shows played a major role in technological advancement. As entertainment, not rigorous science, they lacked the intellectual heft to drive real-world innovation in most cases.
So enjoy your sci-fi television, but curb the impulse to glorify it as an engine of human progress. Exploring technologies like nanotech and uploading through books allows more disciplined scientific speculation. Forget the flashy FTL drives on TV. To envision the future, read authors with authentic expertise in their speculative concepts. That's where inspiration will be found.
