Science Fiction VS. Fact VS. Human Nature

     Science Fiction VS. Fact VS. Human Nature

      Over the years, many parallels have been drawn between the fantasy technologies of yesterday’s science fiction and the actual devices being utilized today.  For instance, one might look at the communicator from “Star Trek” and draw similarities to today’s cellular phones.  In truth, Capt. Kirk’s communicator probably had more in common with the flip-phones of ten years ago than it does with modern “smart” phones.  For instance, you never heard him say,

     “What is the percentage of nitrogen in the atmosphere on Phorbix-7, Mr. Spock?  Oh, don’t bother, I’ll just Google it on my I-Communicator.”

     The inarguable point, however, is that many of the devices used by the science fiction heroes of our childhood are actually commonplace tools in both the workplaces and homes of today.  Where this correlation between fiction and fact has often been drawn, though, there has never been a comparison between just how that technology was utilized by the movie and storybook heroes of yesterday and how we actually utilize it in real life.

     Let’s start with the aforementioned “Star Trek” communicator.  As the name implies, it was primarily used for communicating; sort of a high-tech walkie-talkie system.  It was also instrumental in some of Kirk’s more tactical strategies and it was a necessary element in one of the most dramatic lines ever uttered on film.

     Now, let’s take a look at the average “communicator” user of today.  Do you overhear any requests for beaming up being made?  No.   Have you encountered anyone viciously shouting the name of their nemesis into their iphone as of late?  Probably not.  What you do hear on any given day, however, is an exchange something along these lines:

     “Hey.  ‘Sup?  Nuttin’.  Just hittin’ the Wal-Mart.  Naw.  What?  What?  You’re breakin’ up.  Naw, it’s you.  I got three bars.  What?  Damn.  Crappy phone.”

     Bear in mind, of course, that this “crappy phone” probably cost somewhere north of $400.

     Perhaps that’s unfair, though.  We’re not all military strategists, and the mobile nature of the phone itself is dependent upon signals from a mainframe tower system.  Let’s move on to the more permanent communication device, the “on-screen” video communication made famous in, once again “Star Trek,” as well as many other futuristic tales and films.

     Say you need to broker a treaty between two warring planets on the brink of destruction.  Maybe, instead, you’d simply rather speak face-to-face with the pilot of the ship you just encountered on the far reaches of space.  Perhaps its’ only the much needed face time with those at home that you need after so many months or years of exploration in the name of universal peace.  Nothing helps you accomplish these tasks as well as a large, plasma screen projecting a head the size of a monster truck right in your sitting area.

     Today, thanks to the proliferation of low-cost web cameras and gaming systems such as the “Wii U” and “Kinect” for the XBOX game consoles, the ability to video chat is at the fingertips of virtually anyone who wants to live out their sci-fi dreams.  How, exactly do we utilize this technological gift?

 This is moments before Batman asked the Prez to "Show him some boobies."

     Remember in “Demolition Man,” that Sylvester Stallone epic where the car would drive itself?  If not, the same technology made another appearance in the Will Smith Tour-de-Force “I, Robot.” 

 "Yep, we is some baaaaaaad muthas!"

     Where we haven’t produced a commercially viable self-driving car as of yet, we certainly have added navigation systems that, according to their marketing departments, work at least as well as the ones used by either John Spartan or the Fresh Prince.  Again, that’s according to a bunch of suits in the marketing department.  This is, more often than not, the reality of it:

     How about the Jetsons?  They had a vacuum cleaner that would clean the floors all by itself, even though they had Rosie, the Robot Maid!  Come to think of it, their meals were re-hydrated pills, the dog walked itself on a treadmill and teenage Judy was old enough to baby-sit younger brother Elroy.  What the hell was Rosie there for, anyway?

 "I'm the only thing that can protect you when the Robot Overlords come, you puny humans!"

     I’m off the point, though.  They had a vacuum that worked independent of any human interaction whatsoever, and we have that very same thing today!  What do we use it for? 

Yep.  A go-cart for cats.

     So, in short, what we have today are a bunch of toys that have similar properties to the devices used in past science fiction books and movies and that’s all.  Think about it.  Pretend you were an explorer who, on an Arctic expedition found and subsequently thawed out a caveman who suddenly came to life.  If you gave this caveman your laptop computer and he used it to beat your team leader unconscious with it, would you say that the caveman had “used the computer?”  Would science fiction be science fact at this point, or would you simply have to retrieve the weapon from the caveman’s hands?

     When it comes to comparing the technology of today with science fiction of yesterday, then…I believe it’s more fair and accurate to say that we are, indeed, cavemen with odd devices in our hands that we simply do not fully understand.