Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world.
Albert EinsteinRead
The future depicted in a good SF story ought to be in fact possible, or at least plausible. That means that the writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true... and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of plausibility in science fiction writing, where the future portrayed should be believable.
Frederik Pohl's quote highlights the essential quality of science fiction: that it needs to present a future that is not only imaginative but also possible or plausible. The writer's task is to engage the reader's belief in the potential reality of the depicted wonders, which becomes a complex challenge when one reflects critically on the current state of the world. This invites both the writer and the reader to consider the boundaries between imagination and reality.
Themes
Science FictionFuturePlausibilityWritingImagination
In practice
Example use cases
In a panel discussion about literature, I might quote this to highlight the responsibilities of science fiction authors.
Similar quotes
The unreasonable efficiency of mathematics in science is a gift we neither understand nor deserve.
Eugene WignerRead
The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects, most deserving to be known.
Nicolaus CopernicusRead
To set foot on the soil of the asteroids, to lift by hand a rock from the Moon, to observe Mars from a distance of several tens of kilometers, to land on its satellite or even on its surface, what can be more fantastic? From the moment of using rocket devices a new great era will begin in astronomy: the epoch of the more intensive study of the firmament.
Konstantin TsiolkovskyRead
An attempt to study the evolution of living organisms without reference to cytology would be as futile as an account of stellar evolution which ignored spectroscopy.
John B. S. HaldaneRead
No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.
John Archibald WheelerRead