As quoted in The Making of Kubrick's 2001 (1970) by Jerome Agel, p. 300
1970s
Context: One of the biggest roles of science fiction is to prepare people to accept the future without pain and to encourage a flexibility of mind. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. Two-thirds of 2001 is realistic — hardware and technology — to establish background for the metaphysical, philosophical, and religious meanings later.
“Science fiction encourages us to explore… all the futures, good and bad, that the human mind can envision.”
As quoted in The Faces of Science Fiction (1984) by Patti Perret
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Marion Zimmer Bradley 12
Novelist, editor 1930–1999Related quotes
"Men on other planets", essay in The Craft of Science Fiction, (1976), edited by Reginald Bretnor
General sources
The Paris Review interview (2010)
Context: I often use the metaphor of Perseus and the head of Medusa when I speak of science fiction. Instead of looking into the face of truth, you look over your shoulder into the bronze surface of a reflecting shield. Then you reach back with your sword and cut off the head of Medusa. Science fiction pretends to look into the future but it’s really looking at a reflection of what is already in front of us.
Interview in 'Kill Screen', 2012 https://killscreen.com/articles/stories-about-orcs-and-rape-man-behind-arse-elektronika/
A Conversation With Neal Stephenson http://www.sfsite.com/10b/ns67.htm
Source: Broca's Brain (1979), Chapter 9, “Science Fiction—A Personal View” (p. 172)
Interviewed on Tested http://www.tested.com/art/movies/442545-2d-animation-digital-era-interview-japanese-director-makoto-shinkai/
About Your Name
Sweet Morality (p. 224)
The Immortalization Commission: The Strange Quest to Cheat Death (2011)
“There are no limits to what science can explore.”