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Unit Eight Text Science fiction is definitely not pure science, but neither is it pure fiction. This literary genre, argues science fiction writer Ben Bova, stands as a bridge between science and fiction, between reason and emotion. Moreover, science fiction is not mere entertainment, but has a more important role to play. Believe it or not, it can help us to understand the ways in which our world may change and assist us in shaping the future in the manner that we wish. THE ROLE OF SCIENCE FICTION Ben Bova The year 1972 was marked by publication of a controversial book, The Limits to Growth, This study of the worlds future, done by a team of MIT scientists with the aid of computer models of the future of our society, forecast a planet wide disaster unless humankind sharply limits its population growth and consumption of natural resources. Most people were caught by surprise when the book came out. Many refused to believe that disaster is possible, probable, inevitable -- if we dont change our mode of running Spaceship Earth. But science fiction people were neither surprised nor outraged. The study was really old news to them. Theyd been making their own models of tomorrow and testing them all them all their lives. For what the scientists attempted with their computer model is very much like the thing that science fiction writers and readers have been doing for decades. Instead of using a computer to model a future world society, science fiction writers have used their human imaginations. This gives the writers some enormous advantages. One of the advantages is flexibility. Science fiction writers are not in the business of predicting the future. They do something much more important. They try to show the many possible future that lie open to us. For there is not simply a future, a time to come thats inevitable. Our future is built, bit by bit, minute by minute, by the actions of human beings. One vital role o