The obvious answer is that sci-fi tends to be another form of art like any other no?

It is yet it aims at a slightly different trajectory than art, most art focuses on beauty and truth. Sci-fi attempts to aim for a future, not an exact future but one that gets the essence across.

Some of you may already be asking where philosophy comes into all of this?

Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek): (Yes I use wikipedia like any other rational adult)

Philosophy is also in search of truth (and some might say even beauty too). And it approaches that in one of the most effective ways possible: questions. For some of you the connection I am trying to get at might already have happened. For the rest:

I believe good art (and good sci-fi) makes attempts at asking the most interesting questions possible. Now, I am not saying one cannot enjoy some mindless fun sometimes, everyone has their comfort shows. BUT, I think the best art is the one that sticks with us long after the credits roll. They enter our psyche in a way that most other things cannot.

They are the very essence of human nature. Think about it. How else could one achieve a: 0 to 1 moment?

The stories we tell ourselves might be fictional, until they are not. For something entirely new to happen, there first has to be the story forming in our heads. No stories, no fire. A story that has stayed stuck in my head for the longest time is the story of Roger Bannister: (although as the egomaniac I am I always manage to forget the 4 minute cut off and start to think I had the greatest run ever at a 5 minute mile)

While everyone told him that achieving a 4 minute mile was not possible. He set out towards achieving such a thing. Was that because he was somewhat of an egomaniac himself or was it something else?

I believe what came before everything was that the story formed in his head, the awareness of such a thing already existed but he had to tell himself a story that it was possible. Nobody chases after a goal they don’t believe can happen, it always starts with a story in their head. Because he told himself a very unlikely story, he made the impossible possible. In fact, when the collective realized that it was possible multiple people have long since managed even a sub 4 minute mile.

Family members have told me on occasion that I have a tendency to yap. (one I would say most of us share as a retort)

One of the things I believe in my heart of hearts is that there are multiple ways to find “truth”. (in reality you never find it, you inch your way closer to it) I think philosophy is the no nonsense way of looking for truth, you ask questions. That’s about it. It is so simple. Questions asked consistently while never returning “the de-facto answer” will bring you closer and closer to truth.

Art and sci-fi do this in a more "roundabout” way. What do I mean by this?

Let’s take Ghost in the shell for instance: it asks the question of what it means to be conscious. This might not be directly relatable to most of us, why would I bother questioning my consciousness. It’s right here! BUT, If the art did it’s job correctly, there will be a creeping sense of dread: wait, how would I PROVE that I am in-fact conscious? Que existential crisis or for the unlucky existential dread. (For those of you who are more daring, try to prove your consciousness. Going by the Turing test even ChatGPT is conscious. Some of you might even know some people who might as well be chatbots, no offense to those people 🤖)

These questions might seem pointless to some (and they might as well be). But, there is something so inherent in human nature to inquiry. To movement towards the unknown. This is where I largely believe the main similarity between art, sci-fi and philosophy lies. It is questioning the very nature of existence, it is making us question why we do as we do and why we say what we say. I think one of the most important things is to understand the power of questions. In essence awareness is just asking questions. The better you are at asking those questions the better you will be at doing what you set out to do.

Thanks for reading!

Suhayb, Neunetic 🤖🤖

Ps: This is my first ever letter with hopefully many more to come, if you enjoyed this I would really appreciate if you could share it someone who you believe is a nerd in denial. Schedule will be Sundays at 12 for now (except for this one which is on a Monday, don’t blame me, blame someone else. 🤖) If you enjoyed this join the list for weekly nerd stuff.

Pss: For those of you curious about the name, here is what i messily wrote into a notebook: Synthesis between machine and human until something entirely new emerges from it.