Do mechanical doctors dream of electric sheep? Using science fiction to look into the future of public health

Abstract

At a first glance, it may seem that science fiction (SF) and public health have not much in common. To enlighten that this could be untrue, this paper starts up from their shared 'community perspective' and focuses on several implications of technological development, which can have a great impact on health and have been in some ways anticipated by SF stories. For example, SF has - more or less directly - discussed about the complex relationship between society, medicine and happiness, and it has anticipated several reflections in the field of advances in genetic technology. Beside tackling specific issues, SF has made a deep reflection about technology itself, the way it frightens and the way it could potentially change people and society. While facing these issues, SF raises questions that can be useful to public health as well, in order to rediscover its role in a world rapidly changing. © The Author 2010, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved.