Before the term largely went out of common use, I often referred to science fiction as a vaccine against future shock. (If you're not familiar with the term, read this.) I thought then, and still do, that reading SF helps you to think about a wider range of societies, give you an appreciation (if not an understanding of) for science, and perhaps helps to make you more tolerant of others.
According to this article, reading science fiction can have a big impact on younger readers.
Reading science fiction and fantasy can help readers make sense of the world. Rather than limiting readers’ capacity to deal with reality, exposure to outside-the-box creative stories may expand their ability to engage reality based on science.
A 2015 survey of science fiction and fantasy readers found that these readers were also major consumers of a wide range of other types of books and media. In fact, the study noted a connection between respondents’ consumption of varied literary forms and an ability to understand science.
But it offers more than just an appreciation of science.
From the “Harry Potter” and “Hunger Games” series to novels like Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower” and “Parable of the Talents” and Nancy Kress’ “Beggars in Spain,” youths see examples of young people grappling with serious social, economic, and political issues that are timely and relevant, but in settings or times that offer critical distance.
This distance gives readers an avenue to grapple with complexity and use their imagination to consider different ways of managing social challenges. What better way to deal with the uncertainty of this time than with forms of fiction that make us comfortable with being uncomfortable, that explore uncertainty and ambiguity, and depict young people as active agents, survivors and shapers of their own destinies?
I think that this also applies to older readers, although the positive effects are likely to be less than for younger readers who probably aren't as set in their mental attittudes.
No comments:
Post a Comment