Sci Fi Literature and Academic Lectures

In at least one previous posting I have mentioned my love for professionally recorded college lectures such as those provided by The Teaching Company. Another great source of professional quality audio and video lectures is from Recorded Books’ The Modern Scholar audio book series. I have listened to numerous courses from each company and find that almost without exception each course yields a profound intellectual experience. Although with this posting I intend to review the latest course I’ve completed, just for the fun of it I thought I would list those courses I’ve at least listened to, sometimes delving deeper into the accompanying bibliographies and suggested readings. Incidentally, I do not own most of these discs but held a state library card and was able to obtain many titles from there or other loans.

The Teaching Company list is the longer of the two, comprising 29 lecture series. In some instances I have given the brief title. I have placed an asterisk beside titles that I have found particularly interesting. America’s Religious History, The Old Testament, The New Testament, The Great Ideas of Philosophy, Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking*, A Skeptic’s Guide to American History, Christian Religion and Fundamentalism, History of the Bible, Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning, Great Leaders: Winston Churchill, Historical Jesus, American Civil War, Machiavelli in Context, The Self Under Siege* (by Prof. Rick Roderick an awesome scholar who is now unfortunately deceased), Philosophy and Human Values, Nietzsche and the Postmodern* (also by Prof. Roderick), Skepticism 101 (by Michael Schermer from Scientific American), Philosophy of Mind, No Excuses: Existentialism and the Meaning of Life*, Elements of Jazz*, Doctors: History of Scientific Medicine, Early Christianity, Hitler’s Empire*, Perspectives of Abnormal Psychology, Biology and Human Behavior*, The Story of Human Language, Understanding the Fundamentals of Music, Will to Power: Nietzsche, and The Art of War.

The Teaching Company titles can vary in length and depth. For example, if memory serves correctly, The Self Under Siege (my favorite lectures of all time), consists of eight lectures each approximately 45 minutes. The American Civil War, on the other hand, has sixty thirty-minute lectures in the series. The Modern Scholar list has 20 titles. Each title has two one-hour lectures on each of seven compact discs, making these offerings far more standardized in format and presentation. Another difference is that Teaching Company lectures are presented to a live studio audience while Modern Scholar lectures are not. As an aside to the above comments, I have tried to listen to The Self Under Siege at least once per year since I first bought it on cassette tape in 1998.

The Modern Scholar lectures I have completed, with asterisks by the favorites, are as follows: Understanding Movies*, Astronomy I*, Anthropology of Religion, Crime Scene Investigation I, The Philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, Philosophy of Religion, The American Presidency, Big Picture MBA, The Cold War, The Dead Sea Scrolls, Ethics (by Prof. Peter Kreeft), Genetics*, Jazz*, Literary Journalism*, Rock and Roll History I, Native America, Principles of Economics, Rethinking our Past (by Prof. James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me—an excellent book you should definitely read), World War I, and From Here to Infinity: An Exploration of Science Fiction Literature.

It is this last title, Science Fiction Literature that I most recently completed and would like to explore somewhat in depth in the current posting. I am always trying to expand my intellectual palate when possible, so obtaining these lectures was not necessarily a priority for me as I have never been a frequent sci-fi reader. This was more about learning what makes others sci-fi fanatics. The course is written and presented by Professor Michael D.C. Drout of Wheaton College.

Science Fiction has a focus on realism even when describing such seemingly impossible technologies such as interstellar travel. The roots of the genre go as far back as Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But Jules Verne was the first true, great science fiction writer, imagining technology that has been realized but only dreamt when Verne wrote. H.G. Wells was another early sci-fi writer who used 19^th century technology to project future science and society and the relationship between people and animals (such as The Island of Dr.Moreau).

The 1930s saw the rise of science fiction magazines that gave rise to a new crop of writers in the genre. Amazing Stories and great sci-fi editor John Campbell’s Astounding Stories. The 1930s also introduced H.P. Lovecraft who explored occult, horror and shock within the science fiction framework. Lovecraft created a mythos by linking disparate stories to create a larger meta-narrative.

The 1940s sci-fi, argues Drout, was significantly influenced by World War Two. He looks at Isaac Asimov’s The Big and the Little and I, Robot; John W. Campbell’s Who Goes There? and (as editor) The First Astounding Science Fiction Anthology; Lester del Rey’s Nerves; and Theodore Sturgeon’s Killdozer! Characters in these stories have a militaristic orientation and there is an emphasis on scientific wonders being treated as mundane. One of the lasting implications from Asimov’s writings are the famous three laws of robotics: 1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2.A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

In the late 1940s and the 1950s science fiction was dominated by what Drout labels as the “Big Three”: Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke. Each of these writers created masterpieces that shaped sci-fi literature for decades. Heinlein, however, eventually crossed over into mainstream literature and was influential not only in areas like the space program and science and engineering, as well as “children’s literature and the counterculture of the 1960s.” In 1974 the Science Fiction Writers of America gave their first Grand Master award for lifetime achievement to Heinlein. His works include The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, The Past Through Tomorrow: Future History Stories, The Rolling Stones, Starship Troopers, and Stranger in a Strange Land.

Probably my favorite lecture in the series is on 1960s and 1970s science fiction because this covers my favorite sci-fi author: Philip K. Dick. Drout refers to this era as the “New Wave” period of sci-fi. A key New Wave element concerns the increase of entropy which leads inevitably to the “heat death of the universe.” This actual abandon perspective of cosmology held that the universe is kind of “winding down” since the Big Bang, because entropy always increases. Therefore, everything will eventually “be reduced to a uniform soup of cold, dark matter.” This pessimism informs most sci-fi of the period. Philip K. Dick was somewhat influential on William Gibson who wrote the seminal cyberpunk novel of the 1980s Neuromancer which is probably my favorite sci-fi novel. Many of Dick’s novels and short stories have been adapted for the screen, most notably his story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? as the cult-classic Blade Runner. Dick’s story is more nuanced with subplots which Drout does an excellent job bringing out in the lecture.

Overall, the lecture series was very well-presented. Drout has a captivating cadence and a masterful command of the material. I was disappointed that he did not really address William S. Burroughs’ place in science fiction. Although not primarily a science fiction writer, Burroughs’ satire of science fiction motifs far pre-dates those of someone like Douglas Adams, whom Drout does discuss. Of course, don’t get me wrong, I love Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, except for any film adaptation of it. Of course, I understand how it is difficult to discuss Burroughs’ work in polite discourse on sci-fi lit. It’s pretty hard to discuss Burroughs’ work with any other human being without feeling like you need to go to confession afterwards. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe you should check out Naked Lunch. Just don’t tell anyone I told you to. Sorry for the excessively long post. Anyway, happy learning!