Senator Kamala Harris was half right in her speech launching her 2020 presidential campaign, when she said we need to address climate change based on "science fact, not science fiction.The truth is, we need both.Science fiction has an important role to play in rescuing the future from the huge challenges we are facing --and the responses to Harris' statement illustrate this perfectly.
When Harris statement about climate change went out on social media, a number of people pointed out the truth: Science fiction has been helping us to prepare for a world of potentially disastrous climate upheaval for years.But an equal number of loud voices took issue with Harris' warnings about climate change, because in our post-truth era, the scientific consensus about what humans are doing to our planet is still somehow a matter of opinion.
And that’s why science fiction is more important than Harris' gives it credit for.No amount of scientific evidence will convince deniers —or the vast number of people who merely live in a state of denial.We live in a post-truth era in which facts and fiction are blurring into an indistinguishable mess and power belongs to whoever can tell the best story, true or not.What matters is just how something makes us feel-which is why we need better stories, that, in the words of author Neil Gaiman,“lie in order to tell the truth'.
Stories about climate change might be fiction, but they can help to sway people's hearts and minds in a different way than a recitation of the undeniable facts.Science fictions creators have been looking for ways to restore people's faith in the future.Authors such as Alexandra Rowland have started a conversation about creating a new type of stories called "Hopepunk" that show people reasons to believe we really can do the hard work of fixing our problems.Some other authors are creating a new genre called1 “Solarpunk” that aims to tell stories about using technological and scientific innovation to help the environment.
When the truth becomes near-impossible to distinguish through the fog of disinformation and “alternative facts” people tend to feel powerless to change the world.Activist L.A Kauffman says people need to be reminded that “they have more collective power than they realize.” Adds Kauffman.“There are truths we can get to through the imagination that are hard to get to through purely factual accounts."