I think John over at SF Signal likes to incite riots when he posts certain things. At least, I wanted to start a riot when I read this article. Well, I did want to start a riot; then, I just wanted to write the editor of the article and complain; then, I got lazy and just decided to write a post about it. He'll get his due.

The bit in the article that bothered me the most were lines like this:

. . . science fiction, the genre that lit the way for a nervous mankind as it crept through the shadows of the 20th century, has suddenly and entirely ceased to matter.

And this:

This trend in global epistemology would probably have made science fiction irrelevant all by itself, I reckon. But the genre has an even bigger dragon to slay with its new profusion of cheesy, dwarf-wrought superswords: the scarcity of foreseeable future.

Science Fiction doesn't matter? Honestly, who is this guy to make such a bold statement? It just seems a little brash to make such a statement when there are plenty of science fiction authors who are writing fresh ideas about very contemporary and important issues.

Have we discovered a cure for cancer? Have we truly mastered the challenges of artificial intelligence? Can we travel easily to the stars and back? Have you noticed clones of yourself walking around lately?

Yes, science is changing very rapidly these days because we're constantly making progress in all sorts of fields, but that doesn't mean there aren't new things to discover. Also, while the writer mentioned 'soft science fiction', it seems to have slipped his mind by the end of the essay because cultures change dramatically with each passing year because of certain events happening around the world. Science Fiction - despite Discover Magazine's claim (via this writer) - isn't all about showing off the newest advances in technology. It's about bringing forth new ideas, new visions of the future. It doesn't take a photon torpedo to do that (or faster-than-light travel or Ewoks). It takes genuinely intriguing stories written by people with imaginations apparently far beyond the scope of this writer.

I do agree that there is a serious lack of intelligent science fiction in film and television. In fiction, though, I think there are still a lot of authors trying very diligently (some more successful than others) to write things that make their readers think.

What I don't agree with, though, is the idea that Science Fiction doesn't matter anymore. It just isn't a very accurate statement.