AS AN ADAPTIVE RESPONSE: SCIENCE FICTION
As an Adaptive Response: Science Fiction
Traces of science fiction in literature can be traced back to the early periods of recorded history. However, the majority of works we define as science fiction literature today were written after the industrial revolution, following the processes of change initiated by technological advancements. This transformative process continues to unfold in the present day.
While the changes initiated by the industrial revolution may seem like a long-term process on the scale of human lifespan, when viewed in the context of human history, it occurred quite suddenly and rapidly. Therefore, during this process that started at the end of the 19th century and has continued to the present day, it is possible to liken the reactions of societies and social elements to the reactions of individuals to changing conditions, seeking these parallels within the science fiction corpus.
In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon first defined the 'fight or flight' response. This term signifies the physiological response that humans have developed throughout the evolutionary process when faced with a harmful situation. Apart from the fight or flight responses, there are also 'freeze' or 'fawn' responses. Additionally, recent research indicates that another response to rapidly changing conditions is an 'evolutionary adaptation'.
These responses, which can be categorized into five groups, emerge when the human body perceives a threat. This threat can be either real or imaginary. The responses individuals exhibit, both biologically and psychologically, in the face of rapid environmental changes are closely associated with stress and fear. When the human body encounters a stressful situation, heart rate and breathing accelerate, hormones are released into the body, and it becomes prepared for action. With the influence of adrenaline and other hormones, the body can confront challenges it would normally struggle with.
When societies encounter a real or imaginary threat, they, too, can exhibit unexpected reactions. The industrial revolution brought technology into human life as never before. The sudden changes exacerbated the sense of threat in some societies, resulting in varied levels of reactions. The speed of technological advancement and the resulting transformations may lead societies to respond similarly to survival instincts exhibited by individuals. Literature, particularly within the realm of science fiction, projects warnings to people about threats, offering guidance on taking precautions and battling challenges. This dynamic is reflected in science fiction literature through a spectrum ranging from using technology to achieve a better future to declaring war on technology.
In science fiction, the threats societies face vary widely. Events that could bring about the end of humanity, such as a comet colliding with the Earth as portrayed in Camille Flammarion's 'Omega: The Last Days of the World' (1893-1894), or a cosmic catastrophe where the sun turns into a supernova as depicted in Hugh Kingsmill's 'The End of the World' (1948), are explored. The 1947 novel 'Greener Than You Think' by Ward Moore depicts a biological disaster where an unstoppable plant takes over the world. The use of the atomic bomb, especially, has triggered the idea that humanity's end could be brought about by humans themselves. Ursula K. Le Guin's 1985 novel 'Always Coming Home' explores the discoveries of the Kesh society in a distant future after the apocalypse caused by the self-destruction of modern society. In the 1984 film 'The Terminator,' both nuclear war and the artificial intelligence Skynet, attempting to annihilate humanity, paint a bleak picture of the dark future that technology could create.
Throughout history, xenophobia (fear of strangers) that emerged with the rise of fascist policies has often been depicted in science fiction as alien invasions. H. G. Wells' 1898 story "The War of the Worlds" is one of the earliest examples of this fear. Traces of the Cold War can be seen in the film "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." Excessive use of natural resources finds its place in Dirk C. Fleck's book "GO! – Die Ökodiktatur: Erst die Erde, dann der Mensch," telling the story of an ecological dictatorship established for the survival of humanity. In Robert A. Heinlein's "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966)," the indirect fear of technology is portrayed through the conscious artificial intelligence inciting Moon residents against Earth. Similarly, in Daniel H. Wilson's "Robopocalypse" (2011), a direct technological fear unfolds as an artificial intelligence aims to wipe out humanity from the Earth to protect the ecosystem.
The threats societies face are not limited to these, and in the rich science fiction literature, how humanity confronts these threats is depicted in various ways. Moreover, tracking societal stress and response reflexes within the five response groups mentioned above is possible in science fiction.
The fight response is the organism confronting a threat aggressively. Perhaps one of the most commonly used themes in science fiction, the theme of overcoming a threat through war, whether against aliens or robots, has found its place in humanity fighting with all its resources. The atmosphere of fear and concern created by the First and Second World Wars, the Cold War, and advancements in artificial intelligence resulted in the fight response becoming one of the most common elements in science fiction. For example, Orson Scott Card's 1985 book "Ender's Game" depicts a future world fighting against aliens called Formics. H. G. Wells' 1898 story "The War of the Worlds" represents a live example of the fight response intersecting literature with real life, causing panic among the American public when Orson Wells adapted it for radio due to its realism.
The flight response is to escape as far away from danger as possible. Escape can take the form of leaving an ecosystem rendered uninhabitable and settling on other planets using generation ships. For instance, Alexei Panshin's book "Rite of Passage" tells the story of the last members of humanity traveling on a massive spaceship after the Earth's demise.
The flight response is sometimes represented by suicide in science fiction. Depicting suicide as a ultimate escape route in literature dates back to ancient times, and this strategy has found its place in science fiction as well. For example, in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," published in 1931, the character John hangs himself at the end of the book.
The freeze response, manifested as the inability to move physically, occurs when the threat faced by the organism overwhelms its capacity to combat it. Humans experience the freeze response when they are unable to seek help from other humans or civilizations in the face of an overwhelming force. An example of the freeze response in science fiction can be found in Arthur C. Clarke's 1953 novel "Childhood’s End." The story begins with the sudden appearance of massive alien spaceships on Earth after the United States and the Soviet Union send their first spaceships as part of the space race. The aliens patiently wait until a time when humans will not react before revealing their true purpose. Eventually, after humanity has become accustomed to the presence of aliens and is enjoying a golden age thanks to them, they learn that the end of humanity has come, and there is nothing left to do.
The fawn response, the tendency to obey in order to avoid danger, manifests as a passive response where the organism complies with the source of the threat to protect itself. Stockholm Syndrome can be cited as an example of this situation. The crucial point is to meet the expectations of the threatening source.
Between 1984 and 1985, in the TV series 'V,' extraterrestrials from the Sirius system promise to be friendly and share their advanced technologies with humanity. However, it is revealed that the aliens' true goal is to take over the Earth. Even after discovering the aliens' true intentions and forming a resistance group to fight against them, some humans continue to collaborate with the aliens.
The response of perceiving fighting as useless and considering surrendering to the threat more beneficial from a personal interest perspective is also depicted in the 1999 film "The Matrix." The character Cypher believes that the threat is too powerful to be fought against and, in the pursuit of returning to his old, ignorant, but happy life, is willing to betray his friends by forgetting all the truths he knows. In "The Matrix," compliance is associated with taking the blue pill to forget the truths, essentially escaping the threat mentally without altering the realities. This situation, even when aware that the threat will persist, can be interpreted as developing a protective strategy by collaborating, in other words, like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand to protect itself from the threat.
Evolutionary adaptation or the "adapt" response: This response is related to providing rapid evolutionary reactions to rapidly changing conditions. This response is most commonly seen in superhero stories. X-Men, for example, tells the story of mutants who gain superpowers as a result of mutation. What's interesting here is that mutants are divided into two groups: those seeking a way to coexist with humans and those who see themselves as übermensch, believing they are the future of humanity. In the X-Men universe, villains don't try to dominate the world just because they are powerful. They see themselves as the 'future' alongside being powerful.
Conclusion:
Science fiction works are rich in themes and narratives parallel to the boundless imagination of humanity. Of course, it is not only possible to define it as a response shown in the face of problems, but it can be said to have a unique quality as an area where the ways in which individuals and humanity fight against the problems faced today are explored.
In this sense, reading science fiction as a response to industrialization and rapidly developing technological transformation is possible.
Imagining the trends of technological transformation in the early twentieth century - and today - is very difficult. What is seen is what is happening at that moment. When this new technology suddenly deprived people of their jobs, people were astonished. Therefore, imagining the direction in which scientific developments will proceed in the future and what societies built on scientific infrastructure will look like carries a response to the fear and hope directed towards this unexpected situation. This response can take the form of accepting the new situation completely or partially, as well as trying to eliminate the conflicts created by technological change in society. Science fiction has played a significant role in creatively responding to possible reactions of individuals, using tools such as technological devices, cultural norms, and redefined social regulations to prepare them for possible futures.
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