This National Science Fiction Day, explore what one of the best sci-fi minds of all time thought.
Isaac Asimov is a world-famous science fiction author, who wrote over 500 books in his career. Despite passing away in 1992, his works are still read, loved, and even developed into brilliant science fiction television shows all these years later — Foundation, on Apple TV, is based on one of his novels!
On National Science Fiction Day, celebrated on Asimov’s birthday, we remember his talent and ability to create and craft such unique concepts, blending imagination and intellect. It is a chance to think about how he pushed sci-fi as a genre. He broke boundaries, created new tropes and captivated readers in ways that sci-fi hadn’t done before, and looked forward, into the future, to find new ways to expand the genre.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the brilliant things Isaac Asimov said and wrote during his career.
“The True Delight Is in the Finding Out Rather Than in the Knowing“
As a biochemist, Asimov was all about discovery, and this quote shows that. It emphasizes the pleasure of learning and pushing forward rather than sitting comfortably and stagnating. By saying this, Asimov urges the reader to approach life with a sense of wonder and to take delight rather than fear from the unknown and the pursuit of knowledge.
“Today’s Science Fiction is Tomorrow’s Science Fact“
Did you know that there are a huge number of scientific inventions and discoveries that were inspired by science fiction novels? Authors come up with all sorts of whacky and wonderful sci-fi inventions to solve problems in their narratives, and it seems that there is a large group of scientists out there who take great joy in making them a reality!
It makes sense, really. If someone creative can come up with a theoretical object, say, a bionic arm ,and a scientist reads it, and begins, at a basic level, to consider how it could work, why not try to build it? Especially if it’s going to benefit people!
Some of the other strange sci-fi-inspired items and inventions include the mobile phone (Star Trek: The Original Series, digital billboards (Blade Runner), driverless cars (Total Recall), 3D food printing (Star Trek, The Jetsons), domestic robots (the term Robot itself comes from a sci-fi play: Rossum’s Universal Robots).
“People Think of Education as Something They Can Finish“
Yes, you go to school, then college, then you can do a PhD if you want to. But just because you stop attending a full-time place of education doesn’t mean you’re done. We learn every single day, whether it’s through reading, TikTok, the news, our friends, or even just observing. People are never truly done learning, and so are never truly out of education.
“So the Universe Is Not Quite as You Thought It Was, You’d Better Rearrange Your Beliefs Then Because You Certainly Can’t Rearrange the Universe“
Plenty of us think we know everything. We think we understand how our world works, and how to function. But every now and then, one thing comes up, one thing we misunderstood or didn’t know, and everything seems to just crumble. It feels like our entire worldview was crushed — Asimov suggests in this quote that the solution is simply to rebuild our worldview. After all, you can’t change what you know!
“Any Book Worth Banning Is a Book Worth Reading“
Over time, countless books have been banned, unbanned, and banned again. Sometimes it’s for violence, other times it’s for political reasons. But books are supposed to make us think, make us feel. So Asimov is absolutely right — if a book was controversial enough to be banned, it should be on your reading list, for sure. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t think about!
“There Are No Nations! There Is Only Humanity, and If We Don’t Come to Understand That Right Soon, There Will Be No Nations Because There Will Be No Humanity“
It’s easy to fall into patriotism and see how wars start, but at the end of the day, the only difference between us and them is they were born on a slightly different bit of land. Isaac Asimov’s thoughts here are nothing short of revolutionary. He’s spot on, though. We’re all humans. If we focus too much on nations — when we focus too much on nations — we run the risk of forgetting what really matters: people, humanity, community.
“People Who Think They Know Everything Are a Great Annoyance to Those of Us Who Do“
This one is brilliant. Ignoring that obviously, nobody knows everything, we can all relate to having been over-explained something by someone who actually hasn’t got a clue. We’ve all met the people who want to look like they know what they’re talking about more than they want to learn enough to actually know what they’re talking about. This quote is fun, but it is above all else a lighthearted reminder that humility and self-awareness are important traits to have.
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Migz
Millie Ramm
Millie has been writing since she was a child, and has spent more time with her nose in books than anywhere else. She has been ghostwriting novels and editing for the past few years, and when not working she is curled up with her cats, looking for her next read.
