Science, in this respect as in many others, is not nearly as special as it thinks it is.
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I would not have expected you, of all people, to think badly of science. When I see a phrase like "science... is not nearly as special as it thinks it is" it usually is part of the introduction to a defense of 'Intelligent Design' or something like that; I really hope it won't be here.
Also, a book about evil bricklaying, trombone playing dehumanizing people, or morris dancing run amuck would be an interesting novelty, but science is very frequently depicted in all those situations, thus giving the absence of accurate depictions of science a slightly different implication than the absence of accurate depictions of the others, possibly excepting ditch digging, as physical labor is often depicted as necessarily demeaning.
I don't think badly of science in the least. It's a valid and important field of human activity. I get a little antsy when some of its exponents give the impression that they think it's the only truly important thing about us. It isn't the job of our fiction writers to validate the self-esteem of scientists.
An alien anthropologist who has our bestseller lists will already know we did scientific research, if only because it will almost certainly have retrieved them from some form of technology, which springs from and is powered by scientific advances. It will almost certainly be far more interested in our culture; not the questions we asked, but the answers we gave.
But, as I said, I have nothing against the idea of fiction about scientists. If there are scientists who want their activities to be celebrated in fiction, they have the remedy at their fingertips.
I don't think badly of science in the least. It's a valid and important field of human activity.
*is relieved* My eyebrows have only recently reattached.
I get a little antsy when some of its exponents give the impression that they think it's the only truly important thing about us.
*nod* I wouldn't ever agree with, and have disagreed with, people who state that. I think, though, that concern over the depiction of science in literature goes beyond scientists' self-esteem, not least because of the number of debates over scientific issues I've seen where one side unconsciously or deliberately evoked fictional science when discussing real science. (Such as the term 'Frankenfood.') I do agree that the most likely solution is for scientists to also become authors.
(no subject)
!
I would not have expected you, of all people, to think badly of science. When I see a phrase like "science... is not nearly as special as it thinks it is" it usually is part of the introduction to a defense of 'Intelligent Design' or something like that; I really hope it won't be here.
Also, a book about evil bricklaying, trombone playing dehumanizing people, or morris dancing run amuck would be an interesting novelty, but science is very frequently depicted in all those situations, thus giving the absence of accurate depictions of science a slightly different implication than the absence of accurate depictions of the others, possibly excepting ditch digging, as physical labor is often depicted as necessarily demeaning.
(no subject)
An alien anthropologist who has our bestseller lists will already know we did scientific research, if only because it will almost certainly have retrieved them from some form of technology, which springs from and is powered by scientific advances. It will almost certainly be far more interested in our culture; not the questions we asked, but the answers we gave.
But, as I said, I have nothing against the idea of fiction about scientists. If there are scientists who want their activities to be celebrated in fiction, they have the remedy at their fingertips.
(no subject)
*is relieved* My eyebrows have only recently reattached.
I get a little antsy when some of its exponents give the impression that they think it's the only truly important thing about us.
*nod* I wouldn't ever agree with, and have disagreed with, people who state that. I think, though, that concern over the depiction of science in literature goes beyond scientists' self-esteem, not least because of the number of debates over scientific issues I've seen where one side unconsciously or deliberately evoked fictional science when discussing real science. (Such as the term 'Frankenfood.') I do agree that the most likely solution is for scientists to also become authors.