Beautiful sunny day in Eugene, so let’s not waste it on negativity even though there’s a million things to hate about Reminisence. Rather, let’s talk about elevating science fiction by embracing the concept of ‘sage scifi.’ If sages are the ‘wise fools’ of life, then surely science fiction is ready for some of that wise foolishness as well. Indeed, we’re in desperate need of some experience, judgment, and wisdom if this weekend’s latest SF ‘noir thriller’ is any indication.
What is ‘Sage Scifi?’
Sage Scifi is the scifi culture that looks beyond the obvious, recognizes both emotional and intellectual truths, and pursues holistic, empathetic community behaviors.
Let’s break it down: When you refuse the ‘angry comic book nerd’ trope of scifi fans? That’s sage scifi. When you still support Star Wars for the new life it gives to thousands of actors and creators? That’s sage scifi. When you welcome the next generation of geeky kids diving into Dune or Asimov instead of gatekeeping them? That’s sage scifi.
Want more? Here goes: When you boost new scifi artists and authors’ work because you want new stories told in new ways? That’s sage scifi. If you know Battlestar Galactica got the science wrong, but you don’t care because it’s a decent show? That’s sage scifi. Yes, we need sage scifi. We need scifi culture that looks beyond the obvious, recognizes the emotional truths over academic truths. We need some science fiction sagacity. Sage Scifi is how we’ll make the world better for ourselves and everyone else.
Why ‘sage scifi?’
Simple. The old ways aren’t working for me anymore. Running around, hating on Star Wars? That’s old news. Burning calories over scifi minutiae with ardent ferocity, like we’re sommeliers and the fate of the world hinges on our opinion? Ridiculous. Cancelling SF actors, or hating the people that do? It hasn’t done much for me. If I had to encapsulate everything I’m trying to do, distill it down to a simple idea, it comes back to Sage Scifi. A genre, community, and universe full of expressive, thoughtful wit and verbal skill.
Here’s what we get when we start moving toward sage scifi. Not only will this get us better science fiction, but think of the social benefits. Scifi as a community can begin lighting the way back from hysterical polarizing vitriol, modeling behavior for everyone else.
But Wait, There’s More!
We can maintain spaces for intellectually-accurate scifi and other whimsical, playful stories without feeling like we’re betraying either. We’ve outgrown the 80s or 90s nerds who argued ‘I’m Team Star Wars,’ or ‘I’m Team Star Trek!’ Both franchises have gutted themselves to satisfy greedy, nihilistic studio execs and so have the MCU and DCEU. Well within their right, too. They reduced nerd loyalty to a simple cash transaction. Sage scifi is saying: ‘Stop the insanity – start embracing a post-anger scifi universe where we don’t get fooled again.’
What do we get? When we become scifi sages, we can enjoy stories and say “that was cool, here’s what I would have done differently.” And then we can respond with “That’s awesome, write that story and let’s see how you do it.” Honest, iterative feedback to make a deep, textured universe like SCP has done for scifi horror. Wouldn’t that be a cool idea?
In the end, we wouldn’t have to run around saying “stop arguing” or “here’s what you’re wrong about.” Instead, we could appeal to our nerds’ better nature, diffusing the most scandalous scifi sparring session with a simple question: “What would a sage do?” We’d be back to jumping the hurdles of scifi, instead of being the barriers of each other.
Let’s use Sage Scifi and work together at elevating science fiction. The world can be a better place – it’s in our hands to do so.
Other Sage Scifi posts
