Speculative fiction consists in asking: what would our reality be like given a certain counterfactual change? But when that change is exotic in nature, a work becomes unrealistic if the author does not fully comprehend and cope with the consequences of the particular exotic factor. The result is the inherent incoherence of an unrealistic realism. This is why so much speculative fiction is terrible.
Let the “exotic”—here used in the sense of the term “exotic matter” (which includes
gravitons, tachyons, and other hypothetical phenomena for which there
is no evidence)—mean that which would alter reality on a fundamental level if
it were to exist. The exotic in this sense necessarily entails breaking some
fundamental law that constitutes recognizable reality—in the same way that, as
general relativity has shown us, the presence of mass affects the fabric of
spacetime, the presence of the exotic must affect the fabric
of reality. The scale of reality altered may be that of the
entire universe, as with the allowance of time travel, or merely that of all life
on Earth, as with the allowance of nonhuman intelligent life in our galaxy.
For
instance, time travel into the past is an exotic phenomenon because if it
were possible, spacetime as we know it would not be possible: the arrow of
time would not be constant, and everything dependent on its constancy, all of
existence, would collapse. Or take first contact scenarios: if another sentient
species existed in our galaxy, the odds are over three billion to one that every
solar system would be cluttered with von Neumann probes, to the point where
first contact and alien integration would already have occurred long ago—there could
be no such thing as human civilization or even life as we know it on Earth. Or take warp speed travel (or the even more daunting task of constructing a stable wormhole): the entire mass of our sun bends spacetime by such a small degree (1.75 arcseconds) that warping spacetime on a lightyear scale would require the energy equivalent of trillions of suns—it will surely be many millions of years before our descendents harness such vast quantities of energy, if they even theoretically can.
Given the
best available evidence, it is astronomically unlikely that the exotic, as here
defined, has occurred, could have occurred, or will ever occur. To posit it as
an equally likely counterfactual is dishonest and irrational. Thus, because
positing the exotic as an equally likely counterfactual is constitutive of most
speculative fiction, most speculative fiction is itself dishonest and
irrational. Without including the changes to reality that would necessarily
result from the counterfactual presence of the exotic in it, all that can
result is an irrational fairy tale, a fairy tale that denies what it is—there is
no genuine speculation at play, and the claim to realism is false. Such fiction
is in this way necessarily worse than literary realism, expressionism, and surrealism.
Only realistic speculative fiction that excludes the exotic is worthy of the name.
Furthermore, against
the clearly fallacious three laws of Arthur C. Clark, which are indicative of
bad faith speculative fiction, we may instead state that: (1) there is no more
warrant to doubt rational, fact-based scientific claims about what is impossible
on the basis of prior similar claims that proved false than there is to doubt
claims about what is possible on the basis of prior similar claims that proved
false; rather, every claim must, as ever, be trusted or rejected solely on its own
merits; (2) the possible tested through the impossible is indistinguishable
from demonstrating that the impossible is indeed just that, i.e. a performance of modus tollens; (3)
the belief that technology can and will advance limitlessly is indistinguishable from
magical thinking.
Better
than these counter-laws, though, let us make the following three prohibitions for a coherent Speculative Realism in fiction:
(1) No
exotic travel: through time, to other
dimensions, through macro-scale teleportation, or at faster than the speed of
light by any means.
(2) No exotic
minds: though alien sentience
(within our galaxy), through organic psychic abilities, or through previously
unrecognized sentient objects or lifeforms (minds produced through proven technology such as genetic engineering, brain-computer interfaces, or the known theoretical potential of AI are the exception).
(3) No
exotic powers: through zero-point energy, through unproven particles or phenomena, through extra-dimensional
energy, through magic, or through unseen entities (proven sources such as fusion are the exception).
