Megha Majumder - Reading 2

As more advancements are being made in the scientific world, the less people are sure
about their religious beliefs. Thus is the current state of spiritual crisis in the world, due to the
fact that the society in which humans inhabit is scientific and progressive. The myths of science
fiction are a result of the modern worlds spewing out of increasingly efficient gadgets and
revolutionary inventions in the scientific realm in combination with criticism that the Bible has
been subject to in the last century or so. With the gradual disappearance of a Christian-dominated
West, the inhabitants of the hemisphere have become generally demoralized.
People are more than just atoms and molecules rearranged, as evidenced by the neverending search for something more. The new myths created by the science fiction genre have
substituted the role of religion in a great many peoples lives; it has become what these people
look to for that something more. (p 52) Many talented writings of the 19th century explored the
topic of science fiction, to accommodate what was deemed to be the new mythology: Mary
Shelley, George Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, David
Lindsay, and Olaf Stapledon. In formulating this new genre, the authors hoped to instill a moral
perspective within its readers, to mould our hearts to entertain new values. (p 54) The 20th
century ushered in the golden era for the genre of science fiction and speculative science.
Supermen were depicted in comic books, Star Wars was entering the realm of popular culture,
and in the realm of the real, natural sciences, astronomers were studying the possibility of life on
Mars, attempting to communicate with extraterrestrial life via radio messages. Well-known and
highly respected scientists such as Tesla, Flammarion, Lowell, Huxley, Hoyle, Sagan, Crick,
Dyson, and Hawking devoted much of their research to space colonization, super intelligent alien

life, the characteristics of deep space, and concepts regarding test-tube babies. Physicist Sagan
was inspired by Burroughs Mars adventure stories to write his own sci-fi story, Contact. Contact
served as inspiration for a renowned NASA astrobiology researcher, Maggie Turnbull. The realworld studies regarding these science fiction concepts appealed to the general publics reliance
on hard evidence and penchant for facts, and thus, the new mythology spread like wildfire in
youth culture (p 60). Humans, more often than not, require a set of principles to live by. As
various religious faiths were starting to be sidelined by society or critiqued by scholars, more
people turned to the new myths.
Joseph Campbell stated that the old forms do not work anymore, referring to religion.
He continues, If this is true, then what is needed is a modern myth. (p 53) Once society
grasped the fact that the new myths presented by the popularization of science fiction were not
merely childish stories serving no lasting impact on the people of the modern era, the science
fiction genre and the reasons for its popularity were studied. The myths generated by media and
the influence of popular culture are just as essential to humans collectively as any other form of
religion or mythology. This is due to the fact that mythology is technically a system of values,
beliefs, a set of behavioral modicum, and definitive customs, regardless of whether it is the
Christian faith or the Jedi faith that is being discussed. Cavendish stated that It is impossible to
understand human beings without an understanding of their myths. (p 58)
There is a distinctive dichotomy set up between the old mythologies and the new one:
traditional religion and the advent of science fiction. Peoples mythology influence their outlooks
on the world around them, but it works both ways. The very mythologies that influence the

peoples outlooks are the ones that their environments have bred, because myths shape
perceptions of reality, according to Cavendish (p 58).
Because science fiction is so influential, packed with morals borrowed from all aspects of
life, and mythological in feeling, it is easy for the general public to get caught up in the fictitious
concepts and futuristic inventions introduced in the genre. The true meat of the myths are in the
portrayals of reality that they conjure in humans minds and that science and technology do not
speak for themselves; our storytellers speak for them. (p 56) The lines between science, science
fiction, and first-person narrative often blurred as science fiction influenced popular culture and
the general public in the mid-20th century. This set the stage for Hollywood to jump into the
scene, for more and more people realized just how profitable the genre was. Destination Moon
(1950) was a revolutionary event in the Hollywood portrayal of science fiction, followed by
Rocketship XM, When Worlds Collide, Conquest of Space, and Woman in the Moon. These
movies did more than just appeal to the public; they created a market, established the influential
role of the new mythology in the modern-day world, and argued for the necessity of space
exploration and colonization. (p 63) With the success of Sputniks launch in October, 1957,
America was inspired and even more motivated to reach space and overshadow its Russian
competitor with its discoveries. However prevalent the new mythology is in modernity, it is not
yet immediately looked to as a spiritual haven, likely due to the fact that it has its basis in
scientific concepts. There is one example of sci-fi serving as a go-to for transcendence: The
Church of God Galactic, a new faith with its origins embedded in science fiction. Still, science
fiction does undeniably constitute the new myths of today.

A few quotes that planted seeds in my mind include: Science, the great edifice of
rationalism and empiricism, is now among our principal myth-gathering engines, as stated by
James Herrick (p 65); At this point in time, for more than three centuries we have been in the
process of slowly dismantling and discarding traditional religious narratives that had provided
purpose and dignity to individual and corporate human existence. In their place we have
constructed a new set of myths transforming science into a spiritual project serving a vision of
the future, suggesting that questionable benefits will arise from our involvement with unseen
intelligences from other planets or dimensions or times, and even rendering the life of the
individual person an inconsequential step along the way to something better, as stated by James
Herrick (p 70); We live with the massive success of science fiction; we seldom recognize the
implications of that success, as stated by James Herrick (p 74).
In conclusion, I ask myself: Did Mary Shelleys Frankenstein have an effect on the
atheist population (as in an increase or decrease) due to the fact that the world she wrote of was
one that lacked a God figure? Is the influence of Christianity diminishing in the fields of
education, business, and science? How could one tell if its influence was diminishing due to the
popularity of science fiction in popular culture? Is the preoccupation with science fiction among
the general public keeping the element of hard, scientific research alive? Or is it now vice versa?