Using the panel discussions of the most
recent World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, August 2015, I will jump
off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION
given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. This is event #4084. The link is
provided below…
Super Science
Saturday: The Future of Aging
Will stem cells
and nanotechnology have an impact on how we age? If we live longer, will the
quality of our lives be better? Will we really be able to eliminate the
diseases attributed to age? Or will they still be around? Maureen
Schmitter-Edgecombe
“Dr.
Schmitter-Edgecombe…a professor in the Department of Psychology at Washington
State University…Ph.D. in clinical psychology with specialized training in
neuropsychology…adult learning disability, ADHD…traumatic brain injury,
dementia, multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular accidents…the consequences of
cognitive impairment, management and treatment planning, and treatment
effectiveness…rehabilitation…research with…dementia populations…”
Totally
qualified.
So…is science
fiction dealing with aging? Yes.
Is it dealing
with aging WELL? I’m not sure it
is…
As a
near-sixth-decade “big, old, fat, white guy”, I can safely say that I have been
dealing with aging since I turned 20 – the age at which the brain, lungs, and
skin stop getting better and better. In the 30s, the hair, muscles, fertility,
and bones begin their long slide into decay. The 40s see the decline of the
eyes, heart, and the teeth…after that, it pretty much is a wash. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1035037/Old-time-When-body-really-starts-going-downhill.html)
The most obvious
look at aging is John Scalzi’s OLD MAN universe novels. All of them are superb,
but I would actually raise the concern that they don’t so much deal with aging as sidestep it. From the Wikipedia summary: “…a 75-year-old… joins the
Colonial Defense Forces...Following…psychological and physical tests…[the] mind
is…transferred to a…younger…self…enhanced musculature, green skin…cat-like
eyes…enormous strength and dexterity, nanobot-enhanced artificial blood,
enhanced eyesight and other senses, and…a neural interface that, among other capabilities…”
Oddly, if you do
a search on Google for “science fiction and aging”, you come up with mostly
Golden Age Science Fiction…hmmm…I tried “science fiction and old age” and I
come up with immortality and rapid aging…HORRORS! (Remember the STAR TREK:
Original Series episode, “The Deadly Years”? Kirk, Scotty, and McCoy get old
fast – and then are rescue and become young again! In “Miri”, the ultimate in
terror is reaching puberty and turning into a elderly MONSTER!)
The online
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction has hundreds of entries, from “10th
Planet” to Zoos and looking at everything from Women in Science Fiction, Apes
in Science Fiction, Psi, Dream Hacking, Galactic Empires, and something called
“Pariah Elite”…but no aging, or senescence anywhere.
I managed to hook Stephen King’s
INSOMNIA, Brian W. Aldiss’ GREYBEARD as relatively "current" novels that have aging as part of the theme…but that’s pretty much it.
The Greenwood
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Volume 2 (2005, Ed by Gary
Westfahl) notes, “…old age surely merits more examination in science fiction
and fantasy than it currently receives.”
Again, I note
that while there is a plenitude of SF out there that deals with immortality,
the Singularity, age reversal, and “repair” of the ravages of aging, as a
community, we could perhaps spend a bit more time at exploring what it means to
age in the future and look at HOW that will happen, rather than assuming that
we can !poof!, skip to the solution and simply assume than someone’s gonna find
a way to turn off those nasty telomeres so we can just skip the whole balding
thing and go straight to immortality.
It seems to me
as well (as a BOFWG) writer, that I’ve done my fair share of avoiding the issue
of aging in the future. On Lois McMaster Bujold’s recent book in the Vorkosigan
series, on February 17, 2016 SusanS (from
her GoodReads review) noted, “I found this book to be a charming, beautiful
reflection on grief, aging, love and parenting. The plot is heavy on
relationships and light on swashbuckling action, but it is still filled with
trademark Bujold humor and wisdom.”
This would have been a fascinating discussion to attend -- I certainly HOPE it was well-attended! If you know of
other SF novels that deal specifically (if not exclusively) with aging well, let me know.
I DO know that we need more SF books on aging. Maybe more
than we need more books about the “singularity”…
Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Dj_MaHa2NDY/maxresdefault.jpg
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