Surprise, people: I’m a hardcore science fiction fan.

I’ve been heavily invested in the genre ever since childhood, and I place 99% of the blame for this on my old man. (The other 1% was my natural childhood fascination with all things scientific.) You see, my father read a lot of science fiction novels when he was growing up, and when I was a kid, I rifled though his endless boxes of them. It was here that I learned about all of the classic science fiction writers. Science fiction television and film may be great, but anyone worth their salt knows that the absolute best in science fiction is always found in book form. (And given my disappointment with recent science fiction television, I’ve been delving even more into books lately.)

If it was in those boxes, I read it. I’m sure I’m forgetting quite a few, but just to rattle off some names: Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, James P. Hogan, Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Frederick Pohl, Ursula K. LeGuin, Larry Niven, Cordwainer Smith, Clifford D. Simak…seriously, just pick a legendary science fiction author, and I can guarantee that I’ve read at least a few of their books thanks to my father’s collection and the local libraries. My father was also responsible for introducing me to the Dune saga, and I’ve been [Maker] hooked ever since. My home library of Frank Herbert’s works now spans an entire shelf!

I’m telling you, I filled my head to the brim with that stuff, especially hard science fiction. It was so chock-full, it’s a wonder I was able to process other more important items, like schoolwork, eating, and breathing. Even my favorite comic book characters, like Green Lantern, Iron Man, Firestorm, and Adam Strange are all completely based in the realm of science fiction! When I was a kid, no one else was into the genre, but that didn’t really register; in retrospect, I suppose it made sense that the other kids were more interested in sports and video games than a bunch of dusty old books.

I’ve kept up on my passion for science fiction throughout my entire life. I enjoy a wide variety of science fiction television, film, and other media. I’ve also gotten into the “new breed” of science fiction writers over the years, like Neal Stephenson and Timothy Zahn, as well as picking up novels by classic authors that I missed, such as E. E. “Doc” Smith’s Lensman series and the works of Richard Matheson.

Nowadays, science fiction is arguably more popular then ever, primarily in the film and television realms. Regardless, I find myself standing apart from my peers when it comes to the span of my familiarity with the genre. This is not a holier-than-thou proclamation, simply a statement of fact. I’ve just noticed that most of my peers aren’t into science fiction to begin with, and the ones that do enjoy the genre rarely (if ever) explore the breadth of the material out there, especially its written form. (The latter certainly isn’t their fault, as most people don’t read for pleasure these days as it is!) This unfamiliarity can be personally frustrating, as when I try to have engage in conversation about much of this stuff, I get blank stares.

I don’t understand why someone would refer to themselves as a fan of a genre when they have very little experience with it, or sometimes refuse to experience anything but a few small pieces. To use a non-fandom example, it would be like someone who’s read a medical textbook calling themselves a doctor. Now, this is different than being a fan of a specific property within a genre, or even a subgenre. There’s fans of the Star Trek film that came out last year, but who do not consider themselves fans of the Star Trek franchise in general. I’m also not trying to say that any self-proclaimed science fiction should check out and enjoy every new bit of genre material that comes along, either. We all know that like any other genre of fiction, there’s an extreme amount of absolute shit when it comes to science fiction.

Obviously, other hardcore science fiction fans do exist out there, and the Internet would provide the best way to connect with them. However, as with most things, I’m very reluctant to join Internet forums and the like devoted to science fiction. Intelligent discussion I can handle; fanboyism and nerd debates I can not. As we know, that’s what a majority of message board topics devolve into, so I tend to stay the hell out. Another idea would be science fiction conventions, but those can be very scary places. There’s not much left after that, but I’ve gotten along just fine so far, so I’ll just have continue forging the path alone.

I never understood many peoples’ compulsion in which they feel that they have to go out on a Friday or Saturday night. I saw this shit all of the time way back in college, but astonishingly I still see it happening a decade later in the “real world.” Perhaps people feel like they are less of a “normal” person if they don’t go out each and every weekend, but this behavior is patently ridiculous. If you’re that concerned about what others think of you based on how often you go out for boilerplate social activities, then that honestly makes you rather shallow to begin with. You should never base your self-worth on the approval of others!

Let me use myself as a guinea pig here. I’ve long ignored social expectations, as I simply don’t think my personal life should be defined by the masses. At the end of the week, I’m ready to unwind just as much as the next person. However, I never feel compelled to attend a social gathering in order to do so; there’s loads of ways in which I can relax without falling into a strict social expectation. If I want to go out to some event I’m interested in, I will; if not, who cares? I suppose I’d be admonished as a “nerd” if I chill out on the couch and watch Caprica on a Friday evening (and before that, it was Battlestar Galactica), but after a long week of work, studying, juggling chores, and going to the gym, relaxing with some intellectually stimulating media is perfect downtime. Why should I go out and shout to be heard over the mindless drivel at some crowded bar, just because that’s what society or “most people” say I’m “supposed” to do with a weekend? (The fact that I don’t drink also factors into it, but that’s not the primary point.) I get out plenty as it is, but that’s only at a time and place of my choosing, not that of the rest of the population.

Aside from being stupid, that lemming-like socially dictated behavior that far too many people subscribe to is counterproductive. Relaxing is all about doing what you want to do in order to wind down, not what other people demand. If you’re acceding to others’ wishes, then you’re subconsciously stressing, which in turn invalidates the entire idea! Believe me, I’ve known many an introvert who is a far more capable human being than these weekend warriors.

I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’m having trouble retaining long-term memories of various happenings. This is normal, I’d imagine; I can’t be expected to recall everything that happened during first grade, or every movie night with friends when I was in high school. However, over the past few years, memories from college have begun disappearing, like pieces missing from a jigsaw puzzle. I graduated from college less than a decade ago, so it’s not like we’re talking ancient history here! The fact that I have trouble recalling what were once memorable events is disturbing.

If that wasn’t annoying enough, it gets worse. Aside from forgetting social events and such, my recollection of useful skills is fading. This, also, could be considered normal; if you don’t practice something, you’re naturally going to lose it over time. Still, I’m worried that I’m losing critical life skills. For example, anything above basic math has escaped me. I took years of algebra, trigonometry, pre-cal, and calculus…all gone now. I may not need calculus for my job now, but who knows what the future may hold?

My biggest concern is that I think the process is accelerating faster than normal. It seems like more and more stuff is dropping out of my brain pan with each passing month. People have to remind me of stuff I used to talk about a lot, and I feel like a complete idiot as a result. Cripes, if I’m having this much fun now, imagine what it’ll be like once senility hits in a few decades.

I’m really starting to believe that people’s over-reliance on Internet technology and services is going to destroy our culture. (Yes, I do realize the irony in this; I’m complaining about overuse of networks technology by posting it on a blog, which is then promoted via Twitter.)

My first complaint has to do with the digitization of movies, music, books, games, and so forth. While being able to quickly download media certainly has its advantages, especially in terms of speed and viewing on the go, most people are too blind to realize that they’re essentially throwing their money away. I’ve ranted about the problems with downloadable media before, but it bears repeating. Instead of works of art, media are now more than ever becoming nothing but commodities to be bought and discarded, especially since they’ll be unusable years down the line.

In the same vein, we’ve got e-readers like the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble nook. Anything that gets people to read is always a good thing, if you ask me, but I’ve got concerns about privacy when it comes to the aforementioned devices. Many of these devices and their associated services keep track of every book or other text you download, browse, and read, not to mention most other activity performed on the devices. I’m sorry, my reading habits are my business, not anyone else’s! Even worse is that since the books are tied in through their respective services…Amazon, Barnes and Noble, et cetera can take your reading material away from you at any time.

Next, there’s the giant elephant in the room: network security. The more stuff that gets dumped on computers or on our global network, the more serious the security risks. People don’t realize how serious this is; most people still use incredibly simple passwords that are very easy for an attacker to crack, and also don’t monitor their bank accounts, credit score,s and so forth on a routine basis. Everyone thinks that identity theft or a similar crime couldn’t possibly happen to them, but the probability of data loss is much higher than you’d think.

Both my bank and health insurance company have each lost digital copies of personal information they had gathered. Both times, I’ve been given a free two-year subscription to an identity theft prevention service, but that’s not good enough: I’m going to have to subscribe to one of more of these services for the rest of my life now. Attackers aren’t stupid; if they steal data and its theft is made public, they’ll sit on it and use it when victims are more vulnerable. Identity theft protection isn’t cheap, but considering the alternative is some jackass trying to use my Social Security number, it’s a small price to pay.

Meanwhile, the popularity of sites like Facebook have contributed to a massive spike in KBAs (knowledge-based attacks) on computers and servers. For example, you know those security questions that many sites ask you if you lost your password? Such as “what’s the name of your pet” and so on? Well, far too many people are posting that information publicly on their Facebook pages! You’re practically inviting attackers to come after you! It’s yet another reason for me to avoid social networks like the plague.

Moving on, we’ve got the exponentially increasing number of people who are completely incapable of functioning as human beings without their goddamned cellphones. From the iPhone-obsessed to those idiots at concerts, it just keeps getting worse. What really pissed me off was that when I was in the hospital about two years ago, there was a “no cellphones” sign clearly posted on the floor where I was recovering…and a few of my hospital roommate’s visitors were yapping on their damned phones! If I hadn’t been so weak from my surgery, I would’ve strangled them with my IV tube.

Last but not least…let’s talk about Wikipedia. I’ll admit that I use it all the time to quickly look stuff up, but I never use it as a serious reference tool. For that, I’ll either follow citation links that lead to established reference materials, or I’ll go to the damned library. The problem is that most people do use Wikipedia as a serious reference tool, especially high school students. People just aren’t trying anymore.

We’ve got to be heading towards a breaking point, and whatever that point may be, it’s going to be very unpleasant.

I had an interesting discussion with my roommate a few weeks ago; he had told me about a conversation he had with a mutual acquaintance of ours about reconciling devout Roman Catholicism with enjoyment of the horror genre. Rather than get into the specifics of those conversations (one of which I wasn’t even a part of!), I’ll jump straight into offering my opinion on the subject.

You shouldn’t have to “reconcile” anything with your religion; I never understood why some folks believe that they cannot enjoy certain types of media due to their religious beliefs. Do you honestly think your deity or deities of choice would think less of you for enjoying fiction? A lot of horror media may be based on demons, Satan, or other such “evil” stuff, but the fact remains: it’s still fiction. It’s not real, and no religion priding itself on love, peace, and — most importantly — tolerance should begrudge you for enjoying it. Plus, if you want to take a scientific approach, you can logically argue that Satan himself is a work of fiction!

People need to realize that just because you enjoy certain works of entertainment, that doesn’t mean you believe in them as if they were real. This misguided belief is the cause of many problems in our society; whenever there’s a tragic school shooting, there’s a pointless focus on what kinds of music, movies, or video games the perpetrator was interested in. What nonsense! For crying out loud, I love black metal, but I don’t give a shit about any of the demonic or violent content found in many bands’ lyrics or imagery. I just enjoy the music. In fact, most of the bands themselves don’t believe in that stuff! They know it’s just an act, and they’re here to entertain.

Getting back to the original point, my stance is this: if your religion is claiming that you shouldn’t enjoy fiction for any reason, then it’s a problem with the religion itself, not with you, or the fiction you wish to enjoy. Religious beliefs that try to prevent their adherents from enjoying fictional constructs, even ones based on so-called “evil” ideas, are nothing more than an attack on independent thought and personal freedom. If less people fell prey to that, the world would be a much better place!

As a final note, I’d like to point out something that should lay any and all arguments to rest: one of my best friends is a Lutheran minister, and he loves horror movies! If someone who has devoted their life to their religious faith can work that out, I’m sure the average churchgoer can.