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User:John Fader/recurrent myths in science fiction

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A number of recurrent myths in science fiction are repeated, in various forms, over and over again. These reflect the ongoing anxieties of technological civilisations and reflects their ambivalent collective attitudes toward technology. The terminology of these myths is often used as a cultural shorthand when discussing real developments.

The Frankenstein myth

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The myth that a helpful, controlled technological artifact can turn against its master.

  • golem
  • Frankenstein's monster
  • Lovecraft's shoggoth
  • The downfall of the Krel civilisation in Forbidden Planet, at the hands of their own technological servants
  • This subject is explored in depth (although in a subtler form) in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot series.
  • Nanotechnology's grey goo hypothesis.

The "beast within" myth

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A common theme in literature is the idea that, under the veneer of civilisation, human beings contain a primordial beast. Literature such as Heart of Darkness and The Lord of the Flies contends that this beast can be released merely by removing the civilising effects of society. Science fiction and horror writers look for a technological cause

The danger of hidden knowledge

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The myth that there is some knowledge that humans are not supposed to know, and that uncovering it will lead to their downfall. In some cases the forbidden knowledge takes on a physical, monsterous form; it remains (in allegory) a monsterous find waiting for the over-eager to unearth.

The unconcerned ubermench

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The myth that a human being can move onto the next stage of human evolution, becoming a "superior" or "post" human, and that this "ubsermensch" will regard ordinary humans as inferiors (even as animals) and that rather than being a benefactor will be unconcerned about the plight of ordinary men, or even be hostile and dominating.

The blurred lines between human and machine

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